Finally, the schools are re-opening again for the kids after the gruelling pandemic that forced them to stay at home and take online classes. It is important that in addition to educating youngsters about regular hand-washing, which is mandatory for preventing the spread of germs, boost your kid’s immune systems. And with a lunch box filled with healthy and tasty foods and snacks, you can do so naturally.
India’s eminent child dietician, Avni Kaul, shares some immunity-boosting lunch box ideas for your kids.
Be kitchen ready
Clean out or reshuffle your kitchen cupboards and refrigerators, removing nutrient-less foods like processed meats, white bread, cookies, and sugar-coated goodies.
Stock completely natural, immune-boosting lunch foods like whole grain bread, pitta bread, and wraps that are high in fiber, vitamin B, folic acid, and other essential nutrients. These slow-burning carbohydrates will keep your kids’ energy steady for hours.
- Colourful vegetables and fruits like apples, berries, cantaloupe, kiwi, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and avocados are also good for lunches. Naturally high in antioxidants and essential vitamins and minerals, these foods are essential for overall health, including immunity, growth, and formation.
- Lean, protein-rich options like organic, nitrate-free lunch meats, and grilled chicken, help maintain energy, enhance metabolism, and increase immunity, too – so be certain to include these in their lunch box.
- Healthy, important fats like omega-3 fortified eggs, light tuna, and olive oil are also good sources of nutrition. Omega-3 fatty acids are important for kids’ overall health, including the development and function of the brain.
- Raw, natural nuts, seeds, like almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, and walnuts, and 100% natural peanut butter (or soya or other nut butter) are rich in healthy fats, fiber, and protein, as well as immune-enhancing vitamin E, zinc, and iron.
Make foods kids will enjoy eating
Kids could be quite finicky about not eating foods they don’t wish to eat. At times they manage to conceal some of their food in a wrapper that ends up in the trash, other times they exchange their lunch with a friend. The essence of getting your kids to have healthy foods is to make them fun and kid-friendly. Here are a few choices:
- Peanut butter, jam wraps: Layer peanut or other nut butter along with jam on a whole or multi-grain wrap, roll, and slice into several shapes and sizes.
- egg salad stuffed whole grain bread: Apply organic mayonnaise, chopped celery, mustard, curry powder, and flaked, light tuna or hard-boiled chopped eggs. Scoop into bread with lettuce and tomato.
Not to forget immune-enhancing snacks and beverages
- Opt for unsweetened, 100% pure fruit juice drinks for cold- and flu-fighting vitamin C.
- For snacks, probiotics filled yogurts provide healthier digestion and immunity. Homemade trail mix, consisting of raw nuts and seeds, besides dried cranberries or raisins, is a healthy snack that is quite a hit with kids. As a treat, you might include a small number of dark chocolate chips. Sliced apple, grapes, or carrot sticks.
Smart tips for keeping your kids satisfied at lunch
- Keep it fun. Switch the bread or spread you use on sandwiches, or try cutting the sandwich in different shapes or angles. The more appealing it appears, the higher the probability that it will end up in their stomach and not in the trash bin.
- Include your kids. When children are involved in grocery shopping, preparation, and packing of their lunchtime meal, they consume and enjoy all of it, with very little or no food wasted.
- Start them off correctly.
More and more studies emphasize the essence and importance of a healthy breakfast for adequate fuel before, during, and post-school. Making a smoothie with a green food supplement, yogurt, and berries is a good option.
