If you want your child to perform optimally at school, pack him or her a healthy school lunchbox.
And don't stop when they go to high school.
Ramona Josephson is a qualified dietitian and author of HeartSmart Nutrition, Shopping on the Run (Douglas and McIntyre), and on a visit to South Africa, gave us some tips on healthy lunchboxes.
A parent usually packs a lunchbox for primary school, but from high school there are three options:
- They take nothing to school and you give them money, which they spend on foods high in fat, salt and sugar - all of which are not sound nutritionally.
- They make their own lunch and chances are slim that they take responsibility for taking a healthy lunch.
- You pack the lunch.
"That way you take responsibility for modelling for them what's important. What you're telling them is that what you eat is important," Josephson says.
"I've calculated that I've packed 4 800 lunches for my two children (now 20 and 22). Now that they pack their own lunches, they're emulating what they grew up with. Actions speak louder than words.
"Food becomes a lifestyle, not a power struggle."
Maintaining scrumptious lunchboxes throughout the year is a matter of planning.
Here's what she puts in a lunchbox:
The filling: always have some form of protein. It keeps you going for about three hours, far longer than carbohydrates, especially refined ones. This can be lean meat; fish (canned or fresh); chicken breasts, turkey, cheese, peanut butter. You can use egg, but it's not a good idea if it's mixed with mayonnaise and then sits at room temperature too long.
The bread: ideally use wholegrain bread, bagels, pitas, rolls, English muffins. To keep it interesting use a tortilla, or a roti.
The spread: a small amount of butter (butter one side only) and add flavour with cranberry sauce, mustard, relish, chutney.
The fillers: load up on vegetables - lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onions, even sliced oranges. Layer wet things like tomato between two other fillers and the bread won't go soggy. The bigger the sandwich, the better. It takes the brain about 10 to 15 minutes to register you've eaten enough, so a thin sandwich eaten in a few minutes won't satisfy you and you'll be looking for a snack.
Add some form of dairy - yogurt, milk (for calcium and protein). If you know your child won't drink plain milk, try a chocolate milk, says Josephson. Yes, it may contain sugar, but
it's still better than a fizzy drink. Provide food they will eat, even if it's not perfect.
Fresh fruit and vegetables. They're easy to pack. Choose different fruits, cut up vegetables, put them in a zip-lock bag. They satisfy the need to just nibble on something; better than chips from a vending machine.
Josephson doesn't believe in including a daily treat. As adults we don't treat ourselves every day, and it just sets up bad habits. But if you do want to, there are healthier options, such as nuts, raisins, fruit rolls (with no added sugar) and dates. Or bake a batch of crunchies, with plenty of seeds such as sunflower and sesame.
In winter include a flask of soup, one with a protein like lentil, pea and ham, minestrone with beans.
Josephson offered us these tips on how to organise yourself so that lunches are a breeze to put together.
Shop for tasty sandwich fillings; high-powered fruit and vegetables. If you've got them on hand, you'll use them. A system like this saves you time and money.
Dedicate one part of the fridge for lunch-only items: yogurt, milk, juice, tasty sandwich fillings, and the fixings such as mustard and low-fat mayonnaise. Make sure your family knows that it's hands off for casual snacking.
Dedicate one kitchen drawer to lunch supplies. Here's what goes in it: paper or reusable nylon bags, Thermos flasks, assorted plastic containers, drinking bottles, plastic utensils and napkins, a notepad and pen so you can write a quick few lines. Finding a note which says "I love you" or "Hope the exam goes well" will brighten anyone's afternoon.
Visit Josephson's website www.yournutritioncoach.com
Children need energy to grow and help them concentrate, but it must be healthy food. Poor choices are leading more children to obesity and diabetes. Of course you need to model for your children what healthy eating is - and not give in to "but everyone else has chips for lunch". Or not too often. Be a little flexible.
Avoid: carbonated (fizzy) drinks.
Why? There are seven-and-a-half teaspoons of sugar in a can - that's like eating a handful of sugar cubes. And you really don't want to give children artificial sweeteners, so "sugar-free" drinks are not an option. Besides which, even artificially sweetened cola drinks contain caffeine and phosphates which draw calcium out of the bones - not what you need, especially when you're a growing child.
Healthy option: Milk, fruit juice (without sugar added), water.
Avoid: the wrong kind of fats, hydrogenated fats. Read your labels - if they say the product contains hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats or shortening, avoid. Most processed food contains them, including most fried food.
Why? These are man-made fats obtained through processing vegetable oils to turn them into a more versatile form (such as margarine).
They were developed about 10 years ago to replace tropical oils used in processed food (such as coconut and palm oil).
Now it's been discovered that these fats, with their trans-fatty acids, are a greater health risk than the ones they were replacing.
Healthy option: You do need fats, but healthy ones that are found in oily fish like salmon, snoek, mackerel; olive oil, canola, flaxseed oil, all of which boost nutrition.
Avoid: refined carbohydrates - that includes sugar, refined flour (and all products made with them).
Why? Refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar to rise sharply, give a sharp burst of energy and then a rapid drop in energy.
Sugar leads to mood swings. In the classroom this has a serious effect on performance.
"Teachers would be wise to find a way of discouraging kids from consuming sugar in breaks," Josephson explains. "People don't realise the effect of food on behaviour."
Unrefined carbs, like whole grains, take up to two hours to pass through the body - so the higher the fibre the better.
But children tend to go for medium carbohydrates, so you need to give them protein to keep them going, says Josephson.