Healthy school lunches are essential for kids, as up to one-third of kids’ daily calories will be consumed while they are at school. However, having nutritious lunchbox ideas is one thing while getting the kids to actually eat their lunch is quite another. If your child has the habit of not finishing his lunch at school, some of the following tips may help.
First, apply food safety practices when packing the food. Make sure hands are clean when handling food. Small frozen water bottles or ice coolers in the lunchbox or insulated lunchboxes can help keep cold food stay cool, fresh and certainly look more appetizing. However, it’s best to just avoid packing meats and dairy products in the lunchbox on extremely hot days.
Children’s Involvement in Lunch Preparation
While some children are happy to eat whatever is inside the lunchbox, many often feel disappointed when their favorites are not included. So make it a point to let the child choose some of the food for lunch. When children have a say in the food choices, they are more likely to eat them. By high school, most children can pack their own lunches. Mum just needs to make sure there are appropriate and sufficient foods to choose from at home.
Teacher’s Help
Children who have just started school may need a little supervision from the class teacher to make sure they eat during lunch hours. Most young school kids are too preoccupied with play and games that they will happily forgo lunch just to get their fix of fun. If your child often comes home with untouched lunch or half-eaten lunch, talk to the class teacher about your concerns. She can help encourage the child to eat more before he runs off to play with his friends.
Eating Guidance
Some younger school children may also need some guidance on what the food order is. Use colors as a guide if the child still can’t read very well. Many snap lock bags now come in different colors. For instance, Mum can say that sandwiches in the red bag should be eaten first followed by the fruits in the green bag. The sweets and candy in the blue bag should be the last to be eaten. If the kids can read, put a note inside the lunchbox as a guide.
Good food safety practices, involving the child in choosing the food, asking help from the teacher and giving eating guidance are ways to help kids to eat their lunch. Don’t worry too much if the problem persists. Mums can still get their kids to eat some healthy snacks when they come home from school to make up for what they’ve missed during lunchtime.
Those who find this article useful may also be interested to read about Healthy and Interesting Sandwiches for Kids.
Reference:
McVeagh, Dr. Patricia & Reed, Eve. Kids Food Health. Sydney: Finch Publishing, 2001.
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