How to Meal Prep Healthy School Lunches

Parents worry about many things at the beginning of school, especially with the coronavirus (COVID-19) hanging around this year. Children miss school, hanging out with their friends, and particularly the fun lunch breaks. Let us see how to meal prep healthy school lunches for the post-covid world. Packing healthy school lunches for your kids is essential, especially when both parents are working and there is not enough time to think and prepare the proper meal.

Meal prepping is preparing whole meals or dishes ahead of schedule.

For the last 30 years, we have seen the rising tide of obesity, and thus children must eat healthy, balanced meals throughout the day. Eating nutritious school lunches, preventing illness, and maintaining a healthy body in childhood are essential. As a parent, it is your utmost duty to see that your child eats nourishing foods to keep their immune system performing in the best way possible.

When the children are back to school, it marks a new beginning with mixed emotions and total stress. As your picky eater child is ready to go to school, you need to manage your time and responsibilities.

When children start school, they try to make independent lifestyle choices. They learn quickly from friends and are highly influenced by themes and popular trends. As a parent, you need to talk to them about healthy food habits and encourage them to make healthy, nutritious food choices.

When children are involved in planning and preparing their lunch boxes, they get the opportunity to learn about healthy eating. It gives them a chance to make autonomous decisions about what they would be eating during lunchtime.

1. Involve your child in making healthy choices

It would be best if you involved your kids in making healthy choices by following these tips.

• Ask your child what they would prefer to have for lunch. Please provide them with healthier food and drink choices and come to a conclusion taking their opinions. Together you both prepare a more nutritious lunchbox for your child.
• Discuss with your child and make a shopping list. Go with your child to shop for groceries and let them choose the foods and drinks from the shopping list.

• Encourage your child to make lunchboxes. Older children can prepare lunchboxes, and younger children might need your help making sandwiches or cutting some fruits.

2. What to put in healthier school lunches

The beginning of school starts with planning to make a healthy lunch box for your children. Talk and discuss with them the healthy lunch box ideas.

You can include a healthy lunch box like: –

• Fresh crunchy vegetables
• Fresh fruits
• You can include milk products like milk, yogurt, or cheese. Other alternatives include calcium-fortified soy and rice drink with soy yogurt.
• If you are a non-vegetarian, you can include meat or lean meat like chicken strips, hard-boiled eggs, or peanut butter.
• Grain or cereal food like bread, flatbread, or crackers like whole grain or whole meat.
• Water

Some of the tips to prepare healthy lunchboxes:

• Clean fresh fruits and cut them into large pieces. Please put them in a container, which makes it easy for your child to eat with wobbly teeth when the time is less to eat. Give your child a soft towel to wipe their hands and face when in need after eating fruits.
• In summer, you can pack frozen milk, yogurt, or water. The lunch is a refreshing summer snack; your kids will love the lunchbox.
• Give your child half a sandwich or roll for morning recess, as these are healthy snacks to eat.
• Offer a variety of colorful vegetables and fruit and make the lunch box crunchy and bright.

Conclusion

Food is stored in the lunchbox for several hours and should be kept cool and fresh. Choose an insulated lunch box. Prepare the meal before the scheduled time, so you have enough time to pack neatly. Children should keep their lunch boxes away from the sun, ideally in a cool place.

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