School Zone 9: Healthy lunches

CINCINNATI - As the start of school quickly approaches, many parents dread the return of the nightly ritual of packing lunches. 9 News is On Your Side with a dietician from Cincinnati Children's Hospital offering some sound advice that children will eat up.

The most important item in a school lunch, according to registered and licensed dietician Debby Boutwell, is protein. She said many times parents might pack crackers and some fruit, but fail to include a protein.

"The protein is what gives them the staying power to last throughout the day." said Boutwell.  "So having a protein in the morning and then also at lunch is what gets them through the day. It keeps their brain going. It kind of evens out their energy throughout the day."

To meet that protein requirement, she suggests a combination of either crackers and peanut butter or cheese, a bagel with cream cheese or cottage cheese with fruit.

She also suggests offering variety and avoiding processed and pre-packaged foods that contain a lot of sodium. 

Boutwell added, "The closer the food is to its natural state, the better and more nutritious it's going to be for kids."

Selecting healthy foods for kids is easy, but getting them to actually eat them is not guaranteed. Boutwell suggests set guidelines for kids, but then allow them to have a say in selections. 

"Let them pick what they'd like to have that puts them in control of what their choices are, plus that makes it easier for you, you don't have to come up with all of these different choices, the kids are in control of that," Boutwell said.

The other key is don't pack too much.

"We have a tendency to fill their bags up." said Boutwell. "If we can fit more in it, let's put more in it. So they get overwhelmed when they go to eat, or they focus on the one food they really like and they may eat all of the chips and none of the sandwich. If you're just keeping in mind, what would fit in the palm of your hand, that's a serving size." 

And remember that a child's hand is much smaller than an adult hand.

The USDA has a new nutrition program called Choose My Plate. Click here to go to the federal government website that provides lots of information about healthy food choices. You can even get a personalized food plan based on your age and weight.

If you rely on the lunch provided at the school, Boutwell says some schools offer an a la carte menu meaning your child might like the entree, but not the sides. You can have your child buy the entree, but then pack a side item or two that compliments the meal.

If you pack, consider using a water bottle and freeze it the night before.  That way, it helps to keep the lunch cold, but also thaws out in time for lunch.  By providing a drink in the lunch, your child will not have to wait in line for milk or water.  That gives them more time to eat and finish all of the healthy offerings you packed.

Here is a list of lunch offerings for one week at school:

Monday--Cheese and crackers, grapes, carrots with ranch dip, multi-grain bar, water

Tuesday--Peanut butter on a bagel, apples, cucumber slices, milk (from the cafeteria)

Wednesday--Turkey and cheese on whole wheat bread or flour tortilla, strawberries, yogurt, water

Thursday--Chicken noodle soup, celery with peanut butter, banana, crackers, milk

Friday--Ham and cheese on crackers, salad, pineapple, smoothie, water