Lunch Boxes for Kids

It’s true. A friend who works in a day nursery sees children who bring in a jam sandwich on white bread, a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate for lunch. Packed with salt, fat, sugar, no veg, no protein, no fruit – a disaster.

These are the nutritional guidelines for lunch, for a child aged 9-12:

• Energy 585kcal
• Fat 23.7gof which saturated fat 7.5g
• Carbohydrate 81.3g
• Salt 1.83g

Like many parents, I pack up a lunch for my kids every day, and I know what a challenge it can be to think of something appetising and to include that’s also healthy. If you're concerned about your child's weight, see our tips on weight loss for kids.

I hope these suggestions help you pack healthy lunch boxes for kids.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED?

• 1 portion starchy food – bread, pasta, rice
• 1 portion milk or dairy food
• 1 portion fruit
• 1 portion vegetables
• 1 portion protein such as meat or fish

OK, that’s the bottom line. But how do you go about getting all that into those lunch boxes for kids?

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: STARCHY FOODS

• Sandwiches are top favourite lunch box item. I’m sure you already know that factory-made white bread is bad health news, but if your children are anything like mine, it’ll be their favourite.

  Compromise, by buying one of the white breads made with a proportion of wholemeal flour, or make sandwiches with one slice of white, the other of wholemeal bread. Buy seed- or oat-topped wholemeal rolls, wholemeal breads with poppyseeds or nuts in, wholemeal pittas.

  I do sometimes cave in and buy white bread, but I get it from a proper baker and it does have a reasonable flavour and texture, unlike most of the processed stuff. Whatever you use, go easy on the butter, and don’t add too much mayo. Check out my ideas for healthy sandwich fillings and more sandwich ideas.

• Rice salads, made with brown rice, or pasta salads, made with wholegrain pasta, are good sources of starch. I have a job to persuade mine to eat ‘brown’ rice and pasta, so to compensate I add plenty of chopped vegetables for fibre.
• A slice of pizza or quiche is another possibility. Need I say it – go for wholegrain pizza bases and pastry whenever you can.
• Oatcakes are great little fibre-filled additions to healthy lunch boxes, as are rice cakes, especially the wholegrain ones, and corn cakes. Avoid those that are flavoured, they’re usually coated with salty flavourings.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: MILK/DAIRY FOODS

• Milk A good example of a healthy drink for lunch boxes. My son likes drinking milk – but only if it’s ice cold, and even with a cool pack I can’t pull off that trick in lunch boxes for kids. Flavoured milks are a possibility, but they are inevitably sweetened and contain additives.
• Yogurts and fromage frais are a good thought, especially the type guzzled straight from the tube, so you don’t need a spoon, but my, do you need hawk-eyes when you’re checking and trying to understand a food label. Most are likely to be sugar-laden, with even a mini-pot containing more than 1 tsp of sugar. They might contain little or no real fruit, and the fact that they may be marketed for children doesn’t necessarily mean they’re healthy. Instead, you could make them a little container of plain yogurt with stewed or raw fruit stirred through it.
• Cheese. Kids loved lunchbox cheeses – strings, strips, triangles, mini-cheeses – but you do need to check the food label over before buying, although weight for weight they don't always have any more saturated fat and salt than cheese bought in the block. ‘Lite’ versions may be lower in fat but, can you believe this, they sometimes contain sugar! What next? Play safe and pack a foil-wrapped finger of ordinary cheese.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: FRUIT

• Buy small, sweet apple varieties, but don’t serve apples every single day. Oranges are hard for small hands to peel. I cut them into eighths then put them back together and wrap tightly in foil. Small soft citrus are perfect, but not always available. Pears bruise too easily, but kiwis are more robust – add a teaspoon for scooping. Small bunches of grapes always go down well.
• A handful of dried fruit – apricots, raisins, pear – makes a change, and counts towards five a day for kids.
• Bananas are wonderful for an energy boost but need protection. Try a brightly coloured plastic banana guard. I’m told you can have sword fights with them, too…
• Invest in some small, sealable pots, and send cubed melon or watermelon, mixed blueberries and raspberries, stewed apple with cinnamon, stewed dried apricots, diced peach. Always check to see which are the best seasonal fruit and vegetables to include.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: VEGETABLES

• Never let a sandwich leave your home unless it’s bursting with greenery. I put it in so relentlessly that they get tired of trying to pick it out, and so they eat it. The sandwich is a brilliant way to get green leafy veg on to the menu, unless you are blessed with children who actively engage with spinach.
• It’s not just leaves that find a home in a sandwich. Grated carrot or cabbage, sliced cucumber, finely chopped peppers – pile ‘em in.
• Make a vegetarian sandwich filling, like hummus, roasted veg in pitta.
• Check these roasted vegetable recipes for more ideas.
• Find out how to make pesto and use it to give extra flavour to sandwiches.
• Carrot sticks, yes. Also celery, peppers of all colours, sugar snap or snow peas (mangetout), cherry tomatoes. A small pot of dip with these is fun, go for homemade hummus or something low fat.
• These healthy soup recipes arelovely in winter, and you can use just about any combination of vegetables. Heat to just below boiling, pour it into a small, warmed flask and it’ll be just the right temperature at lunchtime.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: PROTEIN

• You definitely need some protein in those sandwiches as well – jam is useless. Ham is the most popular choice, but try not to serve meat every day of the week. Choose lean, unprocessed meats whenever you can.

  Buy ham off the bone from a delicatessen or butcher, rather than that anaemic packaged stuff made from reformed legs or some such. Ask for it to be sliced wafer thin and it will go a long way. Chicken is great in a Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe, but again, once you start asking where the chicken came from you might prefer to cook your own organic bird and slice it up.

• Cheese is another popular source of protein in lunch boxes for kids, but it is high in fat so don’t stuff those sandwiches with it too lavishly. You can buy low fat types but I don’t think much of them.Better to buy something with a decent flavour so that you don’t need so much. Cottage cheese is excellent, but sadly I’ve never persuaded a child to eat it.
• Fish is a great source of protein, and many children really like tuna, which you can mix with sweetcorn or peppers, or dress with pesto. I also use canned salmon which they quite like. I am on a secret campaign to introduce canned sardines, which I mash with a dash of lemon juice. I think they’re delicious, but perhaps they’re just a touch too fishy. I’ll keep trying. Update Both children now eat and enjoy sardines.
• Pulses are good veggie options for protein. Use chick peas to make hummus, or mix up a red kidney bean salad.
• Tofu has plenty of protein, but unless your children are used to a vegetarian diet, they may not fancy it. I’ve tried it diced in soup, and that went down fine.
• Eggs, hard-boiled, whole or mashed with a little pesto or mayo. Egg salad sandwich is a top favourite with my kids.
• Peanuts, and other nuts, contain protein. Some schools don’t allow them in lunch boxes because of allergy fears.

HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES FOR KIDS: DRINKS AND SNACKS

• Always send your child to school with water. If you want to add an extra drink to the lunch box, make sure you choose a healthy drink.
• Why are so many lunch boxes monstrously high in salt? The ubiquitous crisp is the culprit. Cut down on them – be tough. It’s the only way. I started by restricting them to twice a week, then went down to once. Interestingly, after a few initial moans, the children got used to it, and now they often don’t have them at all for a week or more. When I do give them a packet, it’s a real treat. For a substitute savoury snack, they have bread sticks in various flavours, corn cakes, oat cakes, spicy matzos, a pot of mixed seeds/nuts/dried fruits, a bundle of veggie sticks.
• Biscuits, cakes. Kids love these, of course, but one glance at the label if you buy shows how much they’re packed with hydrogenated vegetable oils, sugar and additives. If you possibly can, start making cakes at home. You know what’s in them, they’re far healthier than shop-bought cakes, taste much better and give great satisfaction all round. And it doesn’t take as long as you’d think – for 10-15 minutes spent weighing and mixing, I can produce enough healthy blueberry muffins to last the week, as long as I padlock the cake tin.
• Fortunately our school bans sweets such as chocolate bars from lunch boxes. I dish out sweets after our evening meal, but I often ‘forget‘ to buy supplies, and the children have got used to sweets being an occasional treat.

Before you get started, check out the food safety tips, to make sure you pack a safe lunch box, as well as a healthy one.

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