August 28, 2009 
Editor's Note: Have you ever wondered why hubby has trouble maintaining weight standards? Just ask him about the chow hall food. The same advice here might apply to him as well.
By Jacqueline Bodnar
Each fall, as the school year begins, parents are faced with many decisions. And, while choosing which school supplies, backpacks and clothing to buy may be on that to-do list, there’s one that’s going to face parents on a weekly or even daily basis: school lunches. Plenty of controversy surrounds what schools offer during the day for those not bringing a lunch to school. Understanding those concerns and the choices available will help parents to make a more informed decision when it comes whether their child buys at school or packs a lunch each day.
Shared Concerns
The issue of what children end up ultimately eating for their daily lunch away from home is a major concern. With obesity becoming a factor of great concern regarding our children, the country is taking a closer look at what children are eating, five days a week, on school campuses across the country.
“Parent concerns regarding school lunches are the same concerns health professionals have,” explains Lucille Beseler, a registered dietician, president of the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida, and co-author of the book “Nurturing with Nutrition” (DMI, 2003). “That is, the significant amount of fast-food-type entrees, such as hamburgers, French fries, pizza and chicken nuggets. The amount of foods with sugar offered, for example, in juice drinks, soda in vending machines, and even daily dessert.”
Schools often argue that their lunch programs are not the ones dishing up the snacks and soda. While they may not be serving all the high-fat, high-sugar, refined and other unhealthy foods, plenty of them abound on school campuses. Many schools claim, due to strapped budgets, that they sell these items in vending machines on campus in an effort to raise much-needed funds. While that’s the case for some schools, others are beginning to feel pressure from parents and health professionals, and are removing the vending machines altogether, or filling them with healthier options.
Making Wise Choices
Whether or not a school is offering unhealthy foods, children can be taught to make wise decisions. The best route is for parents to work with their children, helping them to understand how food choices impact their health. They can also go through stores, the kitchen, or restaurants, and practice making healthy choices. Parents have the biggest influence on a child’s eating habits, starting from the time they take their first bites of solid foods.
"Parents in general should teach good, healthy eating habits at home,” says Beseler. “If a child was never exposed to vegetables at home, they will not eat them at school. Parents need to be good role models and serve vegetables of all kinds daily.”
She suggests that, if your child is going to eat the lunches that the school provides, parents should review the menu with them and discuss selecting the best and healthiest options from the menu. Ideally, a good lunch would include a lean protein, a complex high-fiber carbohydrate, a healthy snack, fruit and water.
If you didn’t start doing this from the beginning, you may be wondering if it’s too late. It’s not. You can get your children to start eating more fruits and vegetables. Your best bet is to stop pressuring them and just start eating more of them yourself. A report by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) explains that research shows that when mothers pressure their young daughters to eat more healthy foods, the children tend to do the opposite. They report that the most effective way to get children to eat more fruits and vegetables is to lead by example. If your children see you eating fruits and vegetables regularly, they are more likely to increase their consumption.
Lunches from Home
There are a variety of reasons why kids end up eating the lunch provided by the school cafeteria. Some parents may believe it’s more cost effective, and that it saves the time of packing a lunch each day, yet still run out of ideas on what to pack. Additionally, there are some kids that prefer to eat from the cafeteria.
Parents may want to consider writing up a list of all the possible packable lunch ideas they can come up with, adding to it as they discover others. Post the list where it’s easily accessible, in order to pull ideas from it each week. It’s also a good idea to have children help prepare their lunch. When packing a lunch from home, take the eco-friendly route, right from the start. Bypass the plastic and paper for reusable containers. Along with teaching children about nutrition, you will also be offering a lesson about doing their part to protect the environment.
“Introduce your child to healthy foods like wheat bread, brown rice and wheat pasta,” adds Beseler. “This will encourage them to eat healthy away from home, too.”
Need school lunch ideas? How about:
- Low-fat cream cheese and all-fruit spread whole wheat roll-up
- Hummus on a whole wheat pita
- Natural peanut butter and all-fruit spread on whole wheat
- Veggie burger on a pita
- Veggie roll-up on a whole wheat tortilla
- Yogurt and fresh fruit
- Low-fat cheese sticks with wheat crackers
- Natural peanut butter with celery sticks
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Low-fat vegetable dip
- Graham crackers
- Whole wheat mini-bagel with low-fat cream cheese
- Dinner leftovers
- Cheese, avocado and sprouts in a whole wheat pita
- Cold pasta salad (whole wheat noodles, low-fat Italian dressing, kidney beans, raisins, chopped carrots)
- Baked chips
- Rice cakes
- Water
- Homemade trail mix
Jacqueline Bodnar is a freelance writer that lives in Port Orange, Fla. with her husband and two children.