Muffins and cakes
Try construction your own healthy muffins and cakes. Omit fruit and vegetables such as sultanas, carrot, zucchini, banana and pumpkin.
Foods best left out
Only offer donuts and cakes rarely instead of in the lunch box.
Muesli and ‘breakfast’ bars
Almost all ‘bars’ are too high in sugar. Some high fibre cereal bars are better than chewy, high fat muesli type bars.
Try to avoid chocolate bars and muesli bars in lunch boxes. These are luxurious and stuck together with fats and sugar
Best drinks
Water and milk are the best nibbles for children. They can be frozen to help keep foods in the lunch box cool.
All sweet drinks such as fruit juice, juice snacks, cordials, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavoured milk, flavoured mineral waters and soft drinks are high in sugar and are not necessary. These drinks can increase the risk of tooth deterioration, are ‘filling’ and might take the place of healthier foods.
Tips for full families
Foods should be simple and easy to fix, ‘ready to eat’ and appetising after several times of storage in the lunch box.
Foods such as sandwiches can be prepared the night before or on the weekend, frozen then taken for each day’s lunch box. Suitable foods to freeze are: bread, cooked meat, cheese, baked beans or vegemite.
School canteens
Some schools have a cafeteria, while others may use a local plant or milk bar to provide lunches for children. Public schools need to meet the Victorian ‘Go for your life’ Healthy Canteen and Food Services policy, which guides what types of foods are made available to children. Below this food policy healthy (green category) diets are the best everyday food and juice choices and if less healthy foods (amber and red category foods and drinks) are available, it is best to choose these foods only sometimes or occasionally.
