Fit and Well Idaho: Healthy school lunches

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — With school starting up again, one St. Luke’s nutritionist is reminding parents how to keep their kids school lunches healthy.

When packing a school lunch for your child, it is important to remember to pack one item from the five food groups: Grain, Fruit, Vegetable, dairy and Protein.

There can be some unique and creative ways to do this, including pin wheel sandwiches, ants-on-a-log, or trail mix.

If the school offers a menu of what they will be serving for lunch at the cafeteria, you can go through it with your child to see if there are any days that they want to buy a lunch, which can save you time and give your child a little independence.

“Here’s your lunch box, you get to pick it out and then let’s start with the basics, what chips or what crackers do you want to choose, so that helps them get involved, and then teaches them to do it, and then sooner or later they may be able to pack their own lunch themselves.” Said Carah Quigley, Dietician.

It is important that your child is eating three meals a day, and two snacks.

Skipping lunch will make it harder to stay focused during the school day.