Even though it’s summer break, it’s a good time to begin efforts on improving school lunches for your children. By the end of the school year, lunches don’t look quite as healthy as the enthusiastic start of September. Now is a good time to redirect your efforts and challenge those little taste buds before the school year begins.
Provide Nutrient-dense Foods
The first aspect to consider is that kids don’t get much time to actually eat at school. Even though there is a 20-minute lunch break, they only get about 10 minutes to sit down . That means we need to provide nutrient-dense foods that pack in the calories and nutrients they need without the volume that takes up time to eat it.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of Eat for Health, created a food ranking based on the nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc.) that different foods pack. According to Fuhrman, these are some of the top ’superfoods,’ along with their Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) scores: kale (1000), spinach (739), romaine (389), broccoli (376), carrots (240), strawberries (212), tomato (164), blueberries (130), lentils (104), kidney beans (100), sunflower seeds (78), apple (76), cucumber (50), almonds (38), chicken breast (27), and eggs (27). Other foods to include that are rich in calories and nutrients are nuts/nut butters (almond and cashew for allergy-free environments), bean spreads/hummus, avocado/guacamole, organic Greek yogurt with berries, and whole grain pockets/breads/wraps.
Avoid Food Colorings and Preservatives
Kids love colored gummies, drinks and cereals, but that doesn’t mean you should provide those ‘foods’ to your kids. In April of this year, the FDA Advisory Council decided that the research was inconclusive about food dyes and preservatives being linked with ADHD. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that the studies showed that they did increase ADHD, but the main Lancet study failed to test dyes and sodium benzoate separately which caused the FDA to ignore the evidence completely.
Dr. Russel Blaylock, neurosurgeon and author of Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, explains how food chemicals and additives alter neurological and mental functions, leading to a multitude of syndromes such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADD/ADHD, and more. Food colorings, dyes, and preservatives are excitotoxins, meaning they override normal signals in the nervous system. At the very least you will observe mood swings in children eating foods with these chemicals in them. There are plenty of yummy natural options to replace any goodie your child currently likes, even bunnies instead of colored fish!
What to Stuff Them With?
Sandwiches are probably the most common lunch box main course. Luncheon meat is loaded with excitotoxins and sodium, so choose the types that are preservative-free and nitrite/nitrate-free such as Boars Head or Applegate Farm. Other sandwich fillings include organic nut butter and jam/jelly, Omega-3 egg salad, wild Atlantic salmon salad (tastes just like tuna salad), your own sliced turkey or chicken with guacamole and spinach, your own sliced roast beef with romaine and white bean spread. I purposely left out cheese because most cheeses are just processed oil, salt and chemicals and are not a nutrient-rich or healthy food option. The mayonnaise I recommend is Vegennaise made from grapeseed oil, rich in antioxidants and healthy essential fatty acids.
Bread is just as tricky because there are a lot of chemicals in commercial breads! Instead, use organic and natural options such as whole-wheat pita pockets, organic whole-wheat bread, sprouted bread such as Alvarado Street or Ezekiel, or whole-grain wraps without preservatives. For the child who doesn’t like sandwiches, you can pack all the stuffings in containers and serve them with organic whole grain crackers. [Pantry Note: Keep natural bread products refrigerated to maintain freshness!]
Finger Foods
Good thing most kids love to eat with their hands! Include lots of organic fruits and veggies for dipping as finger food. Yellow or orange baby carrots, baby English cucumbers, celery sticks, pea pods, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and colored pepper strips are all suitable veggies for the lunch box. Serve with hummus or a bean dip (beans, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and herbs pureed together).
Organic apples and pears are easy to find. If cut ahead of time, dip them in lemon juice to prevent browning. Serve them with organic nut butters or yogurt for dipping. Organic bananas usually travel well. Peaches, apricots, plums and nectarines are more difficult to find as organic, so wash thoroughly and buy locally grown whenever possible. Organic berries and grapes are easy to find and pack in containers.
Organic snack packs of cookies, crackers, gummies, and chips are all available, but the question is, “Do kids need these in their lunch box?” The answer is, “No they don’t!” If you have ever served as a supervisor for school lunch, you know that all the goodies get eaten while the main course gets thrown away, again, usually on account of time, but also because of preference. Don’t give kids snack foods that distract them from eating healthier foods to grow and thrive. Save the goodies for an occasional between-meal snack. Even natural snacks can be loaded with salt, sugar and inadequate fiber which is why they don’t take the place of a healthy meal.
Healthy Packaging and Containers
In 2005, news was that soft-sided lunch boxes were a source of lead in your child’s diet! By 2007, many states imposed restrictions on the use of lead in food containers, but how do you know what kind you have? Test your lunch containers with Pro-Lab’s Lead Test Kit and make sure they are safe before putting them in the hands of kids.
Plastic contains Bisphenol-A and is a hormone disruptor that is partly responsible for early puberty in kids and reproductive cancers in adults. Use ’BPA-Free’ water bottles and avoid putting hot food in plastic containers. BPS-Free Bento-style lunch boxes provide fun food in fun containers. Read more at www.justbento.com.
Dr. Debra Anastasio is a Naturopathic Doctor in Cheshire, and author of “What the Bleep Can I Eat? She will be releasing her new book this fall, “What the Bleep Can Kids Eat?” Visit her website at www.drdebraanastasio.com for weekly blogs, tweets and current events.