How to Pack a Healthy Lunch for Kids

By Terence Beissel, MD, Pediatrics

Say goodbye to the smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich with greasy potato chips that has been the trademark of packed school and camp lunches over the years.

With planning and preparation, you can send your kids off to school or camp with a healthy lunch you can feel good about – and one that they’ll actually eat.

Packing a healthy lunch every morning seems simple, but it often adds extra minutes you don’t have when hurrying to get kids out the door.

There are a number of small strategies that can make this easier for you, healthier for your kids and give you back those extra minutes in the morning.

Packaging and Preparation

First, the packaging. Forget the disposable paper bags and instead purchase a sturdy, reusable lunch bag or lunchbox with an ice-pack pocket inside for a freezer pack that will keep food cold.

Help eliminate waste by investing in three or four reusable food containers that can fit into your child’s lunchbox and can be washed in the dishwasher at night. In-store and online retailers have a large selection of food containers that keep foods organized and fresh for lunch.

Don’t forget to purchase at least one reusable water bottle to ensure your child has water for lunch and throughout the day.

Everything in the lunch should be ready to eat, and by hand, when your little ones sit down to eat. Preparing the food in advance is the key to creating healthy lunches your kids will like.

Try to plan the coming week’s lunches at one time and carve time out of your weekend to prepare the lunch’s ingredients.

Focus on Nutrients

Think about the nutrients your child needs for their growth and brain development, and build their lunches from there.

Here are tasty lunch ideas that provide the important nutrients your child needs:

Protein

Protein builds muscles and other tissues in kids’ growing bodies and helps boost their immune system.

Kids two to nine years old need three to five ounces of protein a day, while kids aged 10-14 need five to eight ounces of protein a day.

Good sources of protein include fish, chicken, turkey or other lean meats, nuts, eggs, milk, yogurt, string cheese and peanut butter. Here are some addition tips to get protein in your kid's lunches:

• Build a traditional sandwich with turkey or chicken slices, cheese and lettuce on whole wheat bread or whole grain pita.
• Layer turkey and cheese and any toppings like lettuce, cucumbers or spinach on a tortilla and roll it up to create a wrap.
• For a vegetarian option, spread a whole-wheat pita or tortilla with hummus, and wrap in any chopped vegetables, such as carrots, cucumber, red or green pepper, spinach or avocado.

Iron

Iron helps the body make red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body, and it helps kids grow.

Kids aged four to eight need 10 milligrams a day, while kids aged nine and up need eight milligrams a day.

Good sources of iron include red meats, beans, green leafy vegetables, tuna, eggs, dried beans and an iron-fortified cereal. Getting iron into your child’s lunch can be tricky, but not impossible. Here are some helpful tips on getting iron into lunches:

• Make a tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat bread or as a spread on whole wheat crackers, incorporating chopped cucumber into the tuna salad.
• Include hard boiled eggs or egg salad on whole wheat bread, crackers or pita.
• Add spinach or kale to any sandwich or wrap as a topping.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C builds kids’ brains and immune systems, promotes healing after cuts and scrapes and helps their body absorb iron.

Kids aged four to eight need 25 milligrams per day, while kids aged 9-13 need 45 milligrams per day. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin C.

Vegetables with good sources of vitamin C:

• Chop carrots, red pepper or cucumbers to eat with hummus or a veggie dip.
• Add shredded carrots to peanut or any nut butter sandwich.
• Add lettuce, spinach or thinly sliced cucumber as a topping to meat and cheese on sandwiches.
• Spread a whole-wheat tortilla with hummus and/or sprinkle with reduced-fat feta or mozzarella cheese and add chopped cherry tomatoes.
• Combine cherry tomatoes with mozzarella cheese for a small caprese salad.
• If your child resists eating raw veggies, look for veggie chips or dried or dehydrated vegetables as a way to incorporate these essential foods.

Fruits with good sources of vitamin C:

• Fruits like oranges, strawberries and kiwi are packed with Vitamin C.
• Use fruit as a way to add something sweet to the lunch, opting for a small orange or clementine or grapes instead of candy.
• Freeze dried fruits like bananas, apples and strawberries can add fruit to the lunch as well as something crunchy (helps replace potato chips!)
• Applesauce cups or pouches are easy additions, but look for ones without added sugar or corn syrup.
• Try making a small fruit salad, topped with yogurt and granola cereal (pro tip: pack the cereal and fruit separately from the yogurt to avoid sogginess).
• Make fruit kabobs by alternating chunks of fruit with small cheese cubes.

Calcium

Calcium is essential to build strong bones and teeth in kids.

Kids aged four to eight need 1,000 milligrams a day, while kids aged 9-13 need 1,300 milligrams a day.

Good sources of calcium include low-fat milk and soy milk, dry cereal and dairy products. These are just a few tips on getting calcium into your kid's lunches:

• Yogurt cups or pouches work well in lunches and kids often love them, but many yogurts have added sugar, making them more of a dessert than a health food. Look for low-sugar or no-sugar options.
• Include string cheese, cottage cheese or cheese slices on crackers or sandwiches, in wraps or with fruit.
• Surprisingly, seeds like pumpkin or poppy seeds and nuts like almonds are high in calcium. Serve them alone or with dried fruits to make a snack mix.
• Leafy green vegetables are also high in calcium – try adding spinach to a meat and cheese sandwich or wrap it with other veggies in a hummus tortilla.
• Edamame is another good choice for calcium. This may seem adventurous, but lots of kids love to eat these green soybeans straight from the pod or on their own. Try adding them with chopped veggies or in wraps.

Don’t Forget Drinks and Dessert

Now let’s talk about drinks and desserts. Try to stick to plain water in your child’s lunch as often as possible to keep them hydrated without adding extra sugar to their diet.

On average, a 12-ounce soda contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories – empty calories that don’t provide any of the essential nutrients they need.

Juice boxes, even ones that have 100% juice, usually have many calories and sugars as well.

Who doesn’t want a little dessert to finish their meal? You can include a dessert to your child’s lunch, but try to get creative and finish the meal without adding extra fat or calories. Here are a few tips on getting healthy drinks and desserts into lunches:

• Make a snack mix of dried fruit, seeds or nuts, small candy like M&M’s or dark chocolate bites or chocolate covered raisins or almonds.
• A mini muffin works well as a dessert, with animal crackers or vanilla wafers.
• Granola bars can be a great dessert while also adding nuts and seeds to the lunch.
• Remember that dessert doesn't have to be sweet. Instead try a single-serve bag of low-fat popcorn, sliced or string cheese and dried fruit.

Get the Kids to Help

Keep in mind that kids are only going to eat what they like, so get them involved in planning and making their own lunches. In addition to asking them for their favorite foods and include those, try adding one new item every couple of weeks to have them try something new.

Another way to get your kids involved is by taking them to the grocery store with you to choose healthy options. You should also try to avoid buying pre-packaged items filled with processed foods and create those same items at home with the healthy options you’ve chosen.

Having your kids help plan and assemble their lunches will become second nature to them over time, and they’ll eventually be able to do it on their own. When your child pleads for unhealthy chips, sugary drinks or candy in their lunch, compromise with them by helping them choose healthier, but still tasty, versions.

Don’t forget to check their lunches after school to see what consistently comes back uneaten and swap out those foods for new options. It’s important you periodically talk with your child and help them understand it’s important to eat healthy foods that they enjoy, without wasting food they don’t like to eat.

Like most things in life, planning and preparation are the keys to successful healthy eating. Make building packed lunches a fun weekend project with your child, which will help you feel good all week when sending them off to school or camp.

Loyola Medicine: Keeping Kids Healthy and Growing

Loyola Medicine’s pediatric department treats children from infants to adolescents to teenagers. Our team of caring physicians provides general primary pediatric care, as well as a broad range of specialty care including neonatology, allergy and immunology, dermatology, gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology, sports medicine and treatment for childhood cancers.

Terence Beissel, MD, is a pediatrician at Loyola Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his residency and chief residency at Loyola University Medical Center.

Book an appointment today to see Dr. Beissel or another Loyola specialist by self-scheduling an in-person or virtual appointment using myLoyola.

Sources: Grow by WebMD