Healthy School Lunch Boxes
Why is it important for children to eat well? Children’s bodies have high nutrient requirements in order to grow and develop properly.
So, what can you put in your children’s lunchbox to keep them healthy? I remember racking my brains to come up with healthy lunchbox food ideas that my children would eat! Here are some ideas:
Protein: Chicken wings, drumsticks crumbed and baked at home; Rissoles made with chicken or beef mince; Tuna or salmon and sweet potato patties; Sushi rolls with avocado and tuna; Slices of chicken, roast lamb or beef; Mini tins on tuna (tuna once a fortnight).
Vegetarian protein: Falafel balls; Tofu cubes pan fried with tamari; Boiled Eggs with salt and pepper; Savoury egg muffins; Slice of quiche; Grated vegetable fritters.
Vegetables: carrot, celery, capsicum sticks, corn on the cob cut into small pieces, mini cucumbers, cherry tomatoes.
Sandwiches or wraps: Egg or chicken or tuna with mayonnaise and lettuce; Salad and left-over roast meat (avoid ham, corned beef and salami due to nitrate content). Choose sourdough, wholemeal wheat, spelt or rye breads as an alternative to white breads.
Snacks: Fruit comes pre-packaged in its own skin and mandarins, apples and bananas often come in ‘mini’ sizes. Dried fruit can also be an option. Fill a mini air-tight container with plain yoghurt and chopped fruit such as pineapple, banana, blueberries instead of overly sweetened prepacked yoghurt. Rice or corn thins with nut butter (if allowed at your school) and raw honey. Dip in an air-tight container or cheese and crackers.
If your children are eating processed and packed food regularly in their lunchbox, teach them that these ‘junk’ foods are a treat only, not an everyday food. For example: save that mini packet of chips, or a popper, or a chocolate muesli bar for Fridays only.
Tips and considerations: Cook extra the night before. Keep in mind juice has just as much sugar as soft-drink. Try to eat organic if your budget allows. Children have to try new foods at least 10 times before they may like them. As a general rule, the more ingredients on the label the worse it will be.
Fever: When Should I Worry?
After reading a recent article written by a mother about her child having a fever for 10 days and rather than getting medical help, trusting her family and friends for advice and relying on her inner wisdom to guide her I was a little concerned. I was concerned that a lot of people who don’t like to give their child antibiotics or over the counter medication may read this article and let their child ride out a fever beyond what is considered safe and this could potentially result in severe disability or death.
So when should you worry about a fever in children?
Firstly, any child under 3 months of age with any fever at all needs immediate assessment by a medical doctor.
Fever in older children is for the vast majority of children is not serious but does require some care and management, especially bed rest and fluids. Many illnesses can be managed with natural remedies but it’s important to know when to get medical help.
So, when should you? If your child’s fever is particularly high (over 40oC) and/or lasting longer than 4 – 5 days and/or your child seems particularly unwell and/or there is no obvious location of the infection (it could be urinary tract, sepsis from a cut) then it is important to seek help from a medical doctor and get a thorough assessment.
As a parent we all want to do the best for our children. Giving them a great foundation with good diet and healthy habits goes a long way towards getting them through illness. Illness can be frightening and it’s ok to get advice from other mothers, but don’t be afraid to go to a doctor and get that safety net for your child.
Mothers don’t let you babies grow up to………be at risk of osteoporosis!
I have seen a few ladies lately who have been diagnosed with osteoporosis (not just thinning bones, but weak bones) in their fifties and sixties. This means decades of increased fracture risk and resulting potential disability.
According to data from one of the largest health surveys undertaken in Australia in 2011-2013 (The Australian Health Survey) the intake of calcium in teenage boys and girls is woefully inadequate with 71% of boys and 90% of girls aged 14 -18yo are not meeting their requirements for calcium. This is very concerning as these are the years for laying down calcium in the bones, which continues until we reach peak bone mass at around 25-30yo.
It is so important to start off with good bone mass at a young age, so by the time we reach out 50s and 60s, we still have reserve.
Many people take dairy out of their diet on the advice of Dr Google or due to health issues such as allergies and lactose intolerance. While this is not necessarily a bad thing as dairy has its own issues for health, it is still a major source of calcium in our diets.
Unfortified alternatives to milk such as almond, soy and oat milk have between 7mg – 19mg of calcium per 100ml, compared to cow’s milk with 110mg/100ml. However, if they are fortified with calcium, alternative milks can offer a viable alternative as a source of calcium with fortified alternatives having a similar amount of calcium. Both have a similar bioavailability in the body as well.
But there are many other wonderful non-dairy sources of calcium. Some of the richest sources include: Tahini (330ml/100ml), Seaweeds such as nori sheets and arame (310mg-790mg/100g), Almonds (265mg/100g), sardines (725mg/100g), Tofu (206mg/100g), dried figs (200mg/100g), Parsley (200mg/100g), Salmon tinned with bones (191mg/100g), raw kale (230mg/100g). Other foods over 100mg/100g include: chickpeas, haricot beans, leafy greens like rocket and cabbage and boiled eggs.
The daily requirement for teenagers, both boys and girls, is 1300mg. This drops to 1000mg from 19 – 50yo and then rises again to 1200mg for people over 50yo. To attain this on dairy free diet does require some thought and planning and possibly a rethink of whether avoiding dairy completely without good reason is a good idea.
See below for a high calcium dairy free meal. And… amaziballs (as my daughter would say) my teenage children loved it.
Recipe: Green and Black Salad
Ingredients: ½ cup Arame (Arame is a mild tasting seaweed used in Japanese cuisine – soak in cool water for 15 mins), 2 Lebanese cucumbers thinly sliced lengthways then in half, 150g Green Beans lightly steamed, 1 avocado cut into 1cm chunks, one dessertspoon of sesame seeds lightly toasted in dry frypan, 250g tofu cut into 2cm wide strips and lightly fried. Dressing: 1 dessertspoon tamari, ½ tsp sesame oil, lime juice (make to taste)
Toss arame, cucumber strips, beans avocado and dressing and top with tofu strips and sesame seeds. Serve 2. Approximately 400mg Calcium /serve.
