Eating For Health

School has started in many areas or will be soon.   So many moms and dads will be packing a lunch for their kids.   On school lunch duty, I observed a lot of kid’s lunches.   One girl opened her lunch to a sandwich always cut into a shape, a heart one day, a diamond the next.   She always had 2 servings of fruits or vegetables in her lunch.   She bought milk and had quite a healthy lunch every day.   Another student had braces.   His mom packed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day.   And every day he threw away the sandwich, not even one bite taken.   I asked him why and he said he didn’t want the peanut butter to get stuck in his braces.   But he never told his mom this.   So, every day she packed the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and every day he threw it away.   The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at eatright.org has some good suggestions for parents when packing that school lunch. Q:   What ...

School has started or will soon be starting across the land.   How can you pack lunches that are not only healthy but contain some super foods?    Kaiser Permanente recently published, 8 Superfoods to Pack in Your Child's Lunch .   Why are these Super Foods?   For one, these foods are loaded with nutrients.   Thus, even a small serving packs a big nutrition boost.    Second, since they are packed with nutrients these foods fuel your child’s body and their brains.   So what are the 8 Super Foods?                      1.  Berries – all berries are super healthy foods.   They are full of vitamins like vitamin C which can help fight off infections and they have a lot of antioxidants.   Serve berries at breakfast by adding them to oatmeal, dry cereal, a smoothie. Pack in a lunch box with some yogurt or in a container for your child to...

      School is starting soon and has started in some cities.   What should you pack for your kids’ lunch?   What are some of the more healthier options?   In Japan, they have these cool lunch packaging containers with compartments for essentially each food group.   When packing a kids’ lunch keep MyPlate in mind.    2 fruits/veggies – yes, 2 servings – one of each is good or 2 fruits, 2 veggies – carrot and celery sticks, a juice box and an apple     Grains – whole grains are best but it is often not easy to get a child to like whole grains.   They do have whole grain white bread or whole grain crackers.   They even have whole grain Goldfish.   Dairy – if it can be kept cold, yogurt is a great option as long as it is not the child’s versions loaded with added sugar and artificial flavorings.   Or have your child buy milk at school. Protein – lean meats, peanut butter, 2% cheeses. MSN, H...