School Lunches - 1

School's starting for many children and even though school lunches have improved a little they still leave a lot to be desired in terms of healthy food choices. The next couple of days I will be giving some tips on healthier lunches for your children .

Before I get into the specifics of healthy lunches remember it's not going to do any good if you pack the lunch and your child trades it for a bag of chips. So, get to know what your child's biggest motivator is and use that as a basis to choose healthy foods. For example if a child has a favorite sport, you might encourage him to eat healthy so he can run faster or be stronger in that sport. Elaborate on it in any way you can. Saying it is just "healthy' might not be enough!

Hopefully you and your child have discussed healthy and unhealthy food choices together before. If not refer to Dr. Sears  L..E.A.N. program and book. It teaches you and your child what's really healthy and offers parents what I call a "food" language to teach kids health concepts. This information will give you the needed ammunition against unhealthy foods. But, keep in mind it's best if you start this journey when your child is still very young and that you have to be the initial role model with healthy habits too.

Tomorrow I'll give you some lunch ideas which you can pack.