Lunch Boxes
Seeing a lunchbox and its contents return home untouched can be disheartening. Organising school lunches is a task many parents do five days a week, 40 weeks a year, for approximately 8 years. That's a total of 1600 school lunches!
A study of Australian children's school lunches found that:
- Most children brought a home packed lunch box.
- Children consumed up to four highly processed ‘junk foods' each day!
- Almost all lunch boxes included bread and fruit, but also contained biscuits, unhealthy muesli/fruit bars, and packaged snacks.
Children and teenagers eat around a third of their daily food intake at school. Filling a lunch box with foods from each food group is an easy way to ensure kids get all the nutrients they need.
What should be in a lunchbox?
| Number of serves 4- 7 years | Number of serves 8 - 11 years | Number of serves 12 -18 years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 1 | 1 | 1-1.5 |
| Vegetables and Legumes | 1-1.5 | 1-1.5 | 2-3 |
| Breads and Cereals | 1-1.5 | 1-2 | 1.5-2 |
| Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese | 1 | 1 | 1-1.5 |
| Meat and Meat Alternatives | 0-0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5-1 |
| Extra Foods | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
The ideal lunch box:
- Fruit and vegetables (as snacks or as a filling)
- Wholegrain breads and cereals
- Reduced fat dairy items rich in calcium (milk, yoghurt, cheese) or alternatives
- Meat and meat alternatives rich in protein
- A drink - water is the best
The following Video was developed by Nutrition Australia to explain the importance of a healthy lunchbox, and provide tips and ideas for new ideas.Packing A School Lunchbox
Snack Ideas:
Vegetables and legumes: corn on the cob, vegie sticks (carrot, cucumber, celery) and dip (salsa, hommus, natural yoghurt - look for reduced fat varieties), ½ carrot, cherry tomatoes, snow peas or sugar snap peas, small can of creamed corn, baked beans
Breads and cereals: chunky breakfast cereal served in a small container, homemade mini fruit muffins, high fibre crackers, popcorn, crisp bread, homemade pikelets or pancakes, left over vegetarian pizza slice, mini bagels, raisin bread, fruit bread, toasted sandwiches (fillings: baked beans, cheese, cheese and tomato, apple and cinnamon, pear and ricotta), bagel crisps, creamed rice in small container, pretzels, rice cakes, corn crackers, crunchy granola (oats, nuts*, raisins, honey), bircher muesli, small container of assorted salads (tabouli, rice or pasta), grissini sticks, microwave pappadums
Milk, yoghurt, cheese: reduced-fat yoghurt (can be frozen, fruit or low-fat muesli can be added for variety), yoghurt sticks, cheese cubes, cheese sticks, cheese slices, plain reduced-fat milk, or small carton of flavoured milk (can be frozen), reduced-fat yoghurt ‘dip' served with fruit pieces for dipping, cheese and crackers
Meat and alternatives: nuts and seeds*, tuna and crackers, boiled egg
Food safety
Young children are at more of a risk of food borne illness, so keeping the lunch box safe is important. The lunch box needs to be kept cool until foods are eaten.
To do this we recommend:
- An insulated lunchbox bag
- A long lasting chiller or ice block or a frozen water bottle or milk box
- To check the school bag can be stored in a cool shaded area at school
Other food safety tips:
- Freeze a drink bottle of water and yoghurts (wrap the drink in a thin tea towel, or put inside a plastic bag to prevent it leaking in the lunch box)
- Avoid packing food that has just cooled, or is still warm. Refrigerate cooked food before packing
- Keep the lunch box in the fridge until leaving for school
- Follow safe food practices in your kitchen - wash hands, use separate chopping boards for raw and cooked foods and a separate board for meat
- Investigate whether the classroom has storage for school bags inside, especially during the warmer months - better yet, ask if there is a refrigerator available
- Make sure the lunch box is kept clean - wash and dry it every night
- Try to keep cold foods under 5°C
- Encourage children to eat chilled foods at morning recess if possible