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Nutrition for Children
Lunchbox Foods to Leave Off Your List
Resist the urge to pack these seemingly healthy foods in your child’s brown bag, and replace them with munchies that pack a nutritional punch
By
Pack a Healthier Lunch
Image: Corbis Images
Parents, now it’s your turn to take notes. You may already be doing your part to set your kids up for success by helping them with their homework and shuttling them from one extracurricular activity to the next, but how healthy are the lunches you’re sending with them to school?
Research shows only 22% of high school students are getting enough fruits and vegetables a day and less than 40% of kids ages 6 to 17 are consuming enough fiber daily, while most children are eating more than the recommended amount of sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. The result of a poor diet can be harmful to your child’s health. Obesity affects 12.5 million children in the United States—about 17% of the child population—and has nearly tripled from 1963 to 2008, putting kids at risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
Lori Brizee, MS, RD, CSP, author of the upcoming Healthy Choices, Healthy Children: A Guide to Raising Fit, Happy Kids, suggests some simple food swaps you can make to cut down on unnecessary fat and sugar while boosting the nutritional value of your child’s lunch.
Related: Your nutrition questions, answered!
Research shows only 22% of high school students are getting enough fruits and vegetables a day and less than 40% of kids ages 6 to 17 are consuming enough fiber daily, while most children are eating more than the recommended amount of sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. The result of a poor diet can be harmful to your child’s health. Obesity affects 12.5 million children in the United States—about 17% of the child population—and has nearly tripled from 1963 to 2008, putting kids at risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
Lori Brizee, MS, RD, CSP, author of the upcoming Healthy Choices, Healthy Children: A Guide to Raising Fit, Happy Kids, suggests some simple food swaps you can make to cut down on unnecessary fat and sugar while boosting the nutritional value of your child’s lunch.
Related: Your nutrition questions, answered!
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