A Parents' Guide to Healthy Packed Lunches

Welcome to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Primary School guide to Healthy Packed Lunches.

This guide has been put together as part of our Whole School Healthy Eating Policy, encouraging everyone to think about the healthy choices we can make to improve our health and well being.

Whilst there is no government legislation on packed lunches, it is our hope that parents will support our healthy eating policy by trying to make children's packed lunches as healthy as possible.

We hope you find this guide helpful and try out some of the ideas and recipes.

What makes a healthy packed lunch?

What our children eat really does have a significant effect upon their intelligence and their ability to concentrate at school, so it makes sense to supply them with good fuel every day. A well balanced diet lays the foundation of a lifetime of good health and it helps our children stay healthy and full of energy.

Few children want to eat the same amount every day. Our appetite changes according to how active we are, how we feel and how hot or cold it is. So we need to look at what our children eat over a week.

We should try to ensure that the packed lunches we make contain something from each of the following groups:

•  Starches/Carbohydrates: Bread, rice or pasta – this should form a large part of the lunch box. Wholemeal bread is better than white.

•  Protein: Lean or medium-fat protein food, either as a sandwich filling or as part of a salad, e.g. ham, chicken, turkey, tuna or egg.

•  Salad: Either as part of the sandwich or mixed with protein and starch into a salad, e.g. tuna pasta and tomato salad, or a small bag of cherry tomatoes or carrot and celery sticks.

•  Fruit: 1 piece of fruit, or a mixed fruit salad, or a mini-bag of dried fruit.

•  Dairy: Yoghurt, a milk drink, cheese or fromage frais - full of calcium.

•  Cake: Yes, really! A slice of home-made cake, like carrot cake, fruit cake or banana bread.

•  Drink: Water or diluted fruit juices are best. Try to avoid fizzy and caffeinated drinks.

Other items such as crisps, chocolate, salted nuts, shop-bought cakes and biscuits, are best kept for occasional treats. If we don't pack these items in our children's lunch boxes, they will hopefully eat the healthier options we have packed.

We should also try to avoid the convenience lunch box items that we find in the supermarkets, like instant noodles, brightly coloured dips, cheeses and biscuits, which are usually full of salt and saturated fats.

How to get children involved

Why not try to get our children to make a list of ingredients or ideas of what they would like in their packed lunches?

Get them to read the labels at the supermarket or in our cupboards to show them what their favourite “junk foods” contain and then check the labels of the healthier alternatives. Let them look through recipe books for healthy sandwich fillings, buns, cakes and bars and different combinations of salads.

If they are involved in what goes into their packed lunches, they are more likely to eat them!

Always read the Label

When choosing the contents of our children's packed lunches it is wise to check the labels on the packaging to make sure that we are giving them the healthiest options.

•  Low Fat: This doesn't always mean low calorie or healthy as a lot of low fat, reduced fat or fat-free foods have extra sugar added to make them taste better. If it is low calorie as well, the chances are that it will contain artificial sweeteners, so that doesn't make a healthy choice, either.

•  Sugar Free: This doesn't always mean there is no sugar, as it may contain natural sugars such as fruit or honey in it original ingredients. Artificial sweeteners can be added and sugar is not always called sugar – it can be fructose, glucose, maltose, dextrose and corn syrup.

•  Light or lite: These products claim to have fewer calories or less fat than the standard versions of the same food. But this claim is not regulated and while a light/lite version of a dessert or a packet of crisps might have fewer calories, it could still contain high levels of fat or sugar.

•  Free from preservatives: These may have extra salt added to increase their shelf life.

•  Reduced salt/sodium: Again, this label is not regulated. It is the sodium in the salt that is bad for us, causing high blood pressure. Salt and sodium are hidden in so many foods, even sweet ones.

The following information from the Food Standards Agency provides you with some simple advice for understanding food labels:

Per 100g -	a lot:	a little:
Sugars	10g	2g
Fat	20g	3g
Saturated fat	5g	1g
Fibre	3g	0.5g
Salt	1.25g	0.25g
Sodium	0.5g	0.1g

Keep it cool

Remember that all the foods we keep in the fridge are the foods that can spoil between the time our children leave the house and the time they eat their packed lunches. Lunchboxes left in a warm place can become a breeding ground for bacteria.

To keep our children's lunch cool, we can buy mini ice packs or freezer gel packs. We can also freeze a carton or plastic bottle of juice overnight. The frozen drink will help keep food cool and will have defrosted by lunchtime.

Recipes for healthy packed lunches

Quick Turkey Wrap

- 2 small flour tortillas
- 2 thin slices of turkey
- 1 tbsp salad cream/mayonnaise
- 2 heaped tbsp grated cheese
- Shredded lettuce

1) Lay out the tortillas, spread with salad cream or mayonnaise.
2) Place a turkey slice on top of each tortilla and cover with shredded lettuce and grated cheese then roll up.
3) Wrap in cling film

Another good filling is - tuna with sweetcorn, cucumber and mayonnaise.

Banana Bread

- 225g wholemeal flour
- 125g soft brown sugar
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- ˝ tsp cinnamon
- 150ml orange juice
- 5tbsp sunflower oil
- Pinch of salt

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
2) Lightly grease a 1 litre loaf tin.
3) In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
4) In another bowl, mash the bananas with the orange juice, followed by the eggs and oil.
5) Tip the banana mixture into the flour mixture and combine thoroughly.
6) Pour the mix into the loaf tin and smooth the top.
7) Bake for 45 minutes.
Can be frozen, or kept in an airtight container for a few days.

Raisin & sunflower seed cookies

- 75g margarine
- 1 small egg, beaten
- 50g plain flour
- 85g golden caster sugar
- 75g raisins
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 40g porridge oats
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ˝ tsp salt
- ˝ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
2) Cream together margarine and sugar until fluffy.
3) Beat in egg and vanilla.
4) Stir in remaining ingredients until combined.
5) Put tablespoons of the mixture onto non-stick baking sheets, leaving spaces for them to spread.
6) Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden.
7) Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing.

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