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What’s the big idea?
- Packed lunches can be very healthy and nutritious. They can
also be little more than a dose of sugar, fat and salt.
- Children who bring in packed lunches should be encouraged to
bring in healthy options that reflect the healthy messages being
promoted by school.
- A healthy packed lunch can be simple to prepare, inexpensive
and fun to eat.
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How to promote healthy packed
lunches
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 Schools
are often understandably cautious about giving advice on what parents
should put in their children's packed lunches. They don't want to
be seen as interfering, critical and 'preachy'. However, at the
same time, schools frequently identify packed lunches as a problem
area in terms of healthy eating, citing typical contents as being
a jam sandwich and a packet of crisps. If an apple is included it
more often than not ends up in the bin untouched.
One way to get advice on packed lunches to parents is via the children.
The examples overleaf suggest how this might happen.
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Healthy lunchbox suggestions
Try to vary the type of bread such as wholemeal, granary
or high fibre white bread. Also make sandwiches from different
kinds of bread including bread rolls, French bread, bagels
and pitta bread as well as sliced bread.
Use a different sandwich filling each day - preferably
including a fruit or vegetable.
For example,
- Peanut butter and grated apple
- Chicken, lettuce and tomato
- Grated cheese and carrot
- Tuna and sweetcorn
- Cheese and cucumber
- Mashed banana
- Hummus
- Cottage cheese, grated carrot and grated apple
Fruit and vegetable
Some fruits to try:
- Seedless grapes
- Satsumas, tangerines or clementines (peeled and wrapped
for younger children)
- Small bananas
- Cherries
- Apples (can be cut into pieces for younger children and
brushed with lemon juice to avoid browning)
- Plums
- Dried fruit such as apricots, dates or raisins
- Fruit salad (apples, satsumas, pears, pineapple chunks,
kiwi fruit and grapes work well together. Avoid bananas
because they go brown)
- Canned fruit transferred to a pot (use fruit stored in
natural fruit juices rather than syrup)
Some vegetables to try:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Carrot sticks
- Celery sticks
- Cucumber chunks
- Baby sweet corn
- Grated carrot and raisin salad
Drink
Avoid sugary and fizzy drinks. Instead use water or fruit
juice.
Other lunch box items
Sweet suggestions
- Scones
- Malt loaf
- A flapjack
- Yoghurt
- Teacakes
Savoury suggestions
- Rice cakes
- Bread sticks
- A boiled egg
- Cheese and crackers
- Nuts
Keep it cool to keep it fresh
1. If you make sandwiches the night before, wrap them up
and keep them in the fridge overnight.
2. If you include a carton of fruit juice, keep it in the
freezer until the morning before it will be drunk. Then
put it directly in the lunch box - it will have thawed by
lunchtime and kept the rest of the food cool.
3. Use a small, insulated cool bag.
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St. Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School was concerned
about the contents of the packed lunches that children were bringing
to school. They decided to implement a series of student centred
activities.
- Year 6 devised and implemented a survey about packed lunches
during the summer term consisting of questionnaires for Years
3 to 6 and interviews for reception and Years 1 and 2. The data
was collated and, using a computer database, displayed in graphs
and charts. Analysing the results, the Year 6 students confirmed
that the packed lunches eaten at the school were generally unhealthy
and poorly balanced.
- Year 6 students had health lessons focusing on what makes a
healthy packed lunch. Displays for the dining room corridor were
produced. Year 6 also researched the cost of making a healthy
packed lunch which involved a supermarket visit. The findings
of their research, with "best buy" suggestions were
presented to the whole school in a special assembly. A leaflet
was produced and distributed to all parents.
- The following summer term, Year 6 followed up the work with
a second survey to evaluate any changes or improvements - which
there were!
Packed lunch competition: Children register to enter the
competition and receive a card. Year 6 check the entrants' lunch
boxes daily to ensure they are healthy and balanced. The cards are
stamped and children with full cards receive prizes, such as a lunch
box or a flask.
Staff days: Staff volunteer on a rota basis to eat packed
lunch with the children - demonstrating good practice.
Also: Balanced, healthy lunches are provided at a competitive
rate to parents.
In Brudenell Primary School key stage 2 children looked at the
kinds of food that could be used for a healthy lunch box. A display
was produced with photographs of healthy lunch box options. During
health week the lunchtime supervisors were asked to reward children
with stickers if they felt that they were eating from a healthy
lunchbox.
“They are now planning regular healthy lunch box weeks.
There has been a definite change in the contents of lunch boxes
but it is something that needs to be continually followed up.”
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Food in Schools Toolkit - practical guidance on healthy
packed lunches and other food in schools activities. Available
from www.foodinschools.org
