What to pack in your child's lunchbox for a healthy school year

Back-to-school shopping often means new clothes, new school supplies, and, of course, figuring out what to put in the lunchbox.

For parents, packing a nutritious lunch their child will actually eat can be a challenge. But healthy does not have to mean boring, nor does it have to mean sending the same lunch to school every day.

Registered nurse and dietitian Angela Ginn-Meadow with LifeBridge Health recommends keeping it simple: produce, protein and something sweet.

"I always think about two things: it should be produce and protein and something sweet," Ginn-Meadow said.

Fruits and vegetables

Research suggests there is room for improvement when it comes to fruits and vegetables in lunches from home.

A 2019 study published in Public Health Nutrition found that children were less likely to include and eat fruits and vegetables when they brought lunch from home compared with children who ate school-provided meals.

That is why Ginn-Meadow says parents should start with foods their children actually like.

"It's not about you being a parent, it's about what your kid likes but also what can be healthy for them at the same time," she said.

A perfectly balanced lunch does not do much good if it comes home untouched. One way to think about it is to consider food as fuel.

"Think about food being your fuel and imagine if you put in bad gas in your car, it doesn't run really well, so we have to think about our kids and how we feed them," Ginn-Meadow said.

That does not mean every item in the lunchbox has to be perfectly healthy.

Balance and moderation

Ginn-Meadow says balance and moderation are important, too.

"One big NO, and it's going to be a little shocking, everything doesn't have to be healthy, and I say that because we know it is about balance and having moderation," she said.

Parents can still include foods their children enjoy while trying not to pack too many processed or fried foods at the same time.

"Think about making sure things are not overly processed, so not having a lot of sweet treats in there or a lot of things that are fried at one time, because remember it's all about fuel," Ginn-Meadow said.

The goal is not to create the perfect lunch every day. It is to create a lunch that gives children a variety of nutritious foods while still being appealing enough that they will eat it.

One simple way to keep things interesting is to rotate the fruits, vegetables, and proteins you pack. That can help prevent kids from getting stuck in a lunchbox rut and give them different options throughout the week.

So, this school year, think less about packing a perfect lunch and more about packing a lunch your child will actually eat.