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Breakfast and Lunch on the Go
Kick the Day off Strong and Keep Going All Day Long
By Christina Pirello
Lunches from home are the best assurance that kids are eating the right foods in the right proportions. To ensure kids eat their sack lunch, just follow their tastes. Do they like creamy dips? Try hummus wraps. Is pasta their passion? Try a pasta salad. Fresh fruit, natural chips and snacks are readily available through food retailers nationwide. Take the kids to the store with you. Involving them in their lunch choices goes a long way in assuring that they will eat the food that is best for their health.
If kids have good role models and a solid foundation on how to feed themselves, they'll make the right food choices (most of the time!).
"Eating breakfast gives us all a healthy start for a busy day," says Frances M. Berg, licensed nutritionist and author of Underage and Overweight: America's Childhood Obesity Crisis – What Every Family Needs to Know (Hatherleigh Press, 2004). "Children and teens that eat breakfast do better in school. They are better at solving problems and score higher on memory, verbal fluency and creativity skills, according to the American Dietetic Association."
Here are some tips for giving your child a healthy sendoff for the day:
1. Take time for the entire family to enjoy breakfast together when possible. Keep conversation pleasant, lines of communication open (with the television off) and start the day on a happy note.
2. Include a good protein source for staying power. Adding a boiled egg, peanut butter, slice of leftover roast beef or hamburger keeps a child satisfied until lunch.
3. Count up the food groups. See how many of the five groups you can get into breakfast (bread and cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat and alternates, milk and dairy). Attaching a food pyramid to the refrigerator or kitchen bulletin board helps kids see how well they're eating during the day.
4. Help an weight-conscious children understand the importance of breakfast. Kids who eat breakfast take in fewer calories and less fat through the day, and they indulge in less impulsive snacking and bingeing. They are also better nourished.
