Relax, It's Only Lunch

or How Not to Stress Out Over Cream Cheese Sandwiches

by Adina Michelsohn

You get over 319,000 hits in 0.21 seconds by googling the term “school lunches.” Just about every publication I picked up in the last month had a back-to-school article on how to pack a healthy lunch. As it happens, I’m writing this article during National School Lunch Week (October 11-15), which was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy to raise awareness of the role that nutrition plays in our children’s lives. Clearly, this is not a new topic of concern, but never have the stakes been higher. The obesity epidemic has not spared our children, and the national obesity rate in that population is now around 15 percent. In response, school systems around the country have revamped their lunch menus, and in some states, healthful choices are now mandated by law! New York school cafeterias offer whole-wheat pizza with low-fat cheese, and Texas has eliminated deep-fried foods. And most impressive of all is the new statewide emphasis on nutrition and fitness in, of all places, Arkansas. Their public health crusade was spurred by Governor Mike Huckabee, who, once he dropped over 100 pounds off his own 5-foot-11-inch frame, signed into law a requirement for schools to measure every student’s body mass index (a formula that determines overweight), and send the data home to his parents!

This widespread concern regarding our children’s health and nutrition touches us as well. The average school lunch contains roughly 33 percent calories from fat. Yet we face the daily dilemma: how to pack a healthful lunch that kids will actually eat? What to do when your idea of a good lunch includes celery sticks and a sweet potato muffin, and your child is clamoring for soda and Laffy Taffy “like the other kids”? The “experts,” for example, tell us to pack fruit. But my kids wouldn’t eat fruit if it wasn’t cut up, and if I did cut it, the slices got brown and “ucky” by snacktime. How to react when I open the lunchboxes at the end of the day and find an uneaten sandwich, or a box of s that I hadn’t put there? Instead of over-reacting, I decided to adopt a totally different approach. And by and large, it’s been working. I offer these guidelines as one parent to another, and hope you’ll find them useful.

1. Educate your children. I don’t expect miracles, but I do believe that my children can be taught to commit to a more healthful attitude. When my daughter indulged in junk food over Yom Tov (think Simchas Torah treats offered by our well-meaning shul-mates) and became ill, we had a discussion about connecting what we eat with how we feel. In general, she enjoys helping me in the kitchen whipping up healthful shakes, and I have no difficulty steering her away from the candy aisles. I’m not naive to think that she’ll never enjoy a treat at a birthday party, but she is aware of her choices, and she’s only seven! Even my older son, who’s never met a doughnut he didn’t like, stunned me recently by confiding that my attempts to “educate” him have left their mark, and that he has in fact curbed his intake of nosh.
2. Shop smart. In a nutshell, I avoid buying snacks that contain any trans-fats (partially hydrogenated oils) or MSG, and processed foods loaded with excessive sugars but zero nutrients. From there, I’m willing to compromise. So, I don’t buy chips, candy, cans of soda, but I will purchase granola bars, chocolate milk cartons, and whole-grain crackers. If it’s not in the pantry, it doesn’t become an issue. I take my children shopping with me, and if they pull something off the shelf that I don’t want to buy, we read the ingredients together. Over time, they have become quite savvy, and we work together to find alternatives. I believe if I simply impose my thinking on them, I will fail. I would rather teach them to think for themselves.
3. Look at the big picture. I remember when my kids were young, I asked the pediatrician if I should worry because one of them only wanted to eat macaroni. He asked me if in the course of a week, was he getting proteins, fruits and vegetables. If he was, I shouldn’t worry from meal to meal. From that lesson, I’ve come to a more relaxed approach about school lunch. I don’t need to ensure that every single lunch is up to par nutritionally, as long as in the course of the day, my child eats well. Breakfast is the make-it or break-it meal. Parents agonize far less about breakfast than they do about lunch. It really should be the other way around.

The purpose of lunch is to provide fuel to keep our children going so that they can concentrate and maintain their energy level. A good, high-protein (I can’t stress this enough) breakfast will fuel them until lunchtime. If they’ve missed out on breakfast, lunch had better be good, and too often, it’s not good enough. (I don’t mean to disparage any parents’ lunchmaking abilities, but it’s the kids themselves who often race through the most healthful lunch, pick out what they want, and run off to join their friends to play. Or worse, they trade the quality stuff for something inferior!) Parents can hedge their bets if they send their kids off to school well-fed in the first place. Since I’ve learned that fruit doesn’t work for my kids’ lunches (maybe the occasional clementine will get a thumbs up), I offer it at home, at other meals. It doesn’t have to be at school.

After my last article, many people came up to me to continue the discussion. Several commented that they had made a single change in their family diet. Each and every change, no matter how slowly it comes about, makes a difference. Each child is different, and what works for one, won’t for another. But by experimenting and laughing at the disasters, the whole family will be sure to be on the right path towards optimal nutritional health.

Lunchbox Ideas. According to Marilyn Tanner of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, a child’s lunch should contain at least 16 grams of protein, two servings of a fruit or vegetable, two grain servings, and a small amount of fat from dairy, nuts, or meat. Making lunch in my house has become like putting together a simple puzzle: Main dish, drinks, and 2-3 kid and mom-friendly snacks. It’s about what I won’t give them, how to make what I do give them as appetizing as possible, and maximizing protein options. The entire goal is to keep blood sugar levels steady. Nothing keeps a body going like protein (along with fiber found in complex carbohydrates) – it digests slowly, which helps maintain the body’s blood sugar balance. A high-protein lunch will ward off an afternoon lull, when children start feeling sluggish and cranky (ask your kids’ teachers!). In addition, as Dr. Tanner explains, “starch (aka carbs) gives [kids] quick energy and the fat will keep them feeling satiated.” Here’s a sample list of options.

Main dish: whole-wheat bread, pitas, wraps, English muffins, or bagels. Fill with cheese, natural nut (almond, peanut, or cashew) or sesame seed butter (if allowed at your school), or even humus, natural turkey, tuna salad, egg salad, natural smoked salmon with yogurt cream cheese; soyburger; slice of pizza on whole wheat crust; fresh salad with chickpeas or kidney beans and chunks of cheese;

Drinks: milk, chocolate milk, 100% juice drinks (not punch or soda), water bottle. (Buying drinks in bulk at warehouse stores like Sam’s Club is much more economical than the supermarket – I found a case of 10 oz.orange juice bottles came out cheaper than the “3-for-$1" 6 oz. fruit punches sold locally.)

High-protein/high-fiber snacks: string cheese with whole-wheat crackers, carrot, cucumber, or celery sticks, fresh or dried fruit, baggie of pistachios or cashews, hard-boiled egg, squeeze-tube of yogurt, cottage cheese mixed with diced fruit, whole-grain oven-baked corn chips, whole wheat muffin, toasted whole-grain waffle with nut butter, energy bar.

High-energy snacks (best when paired with a high-protein food): fruit leather, granola bar, pure unsweetened juice.

[Note: if you’re packing perishables, make sure to tuck an ice pack, or even better, a frozen water bottle, inside the lunchbox.]

Website resources for additional information:

American Dietetic Association click on Food & Nutrition Information;
American Academy of Pediatrics–click on Children's Health Topics, select N for Nutrition;
www.kidnetic.com (excellent site developed specifically for kids ages 9-12, and their parents, to teach them about healthy eating)–click on Eat for Energy; www.smartmouth.org (Center for Science in the Public Interest)–very entertaining, educational kid-oriented site (e.g., select Choose Ur Chews);
Food & Nutrition Information Center–click on Healthy School Meals Resource System, then Topics A-Z, then Child Nutrition & Health.