Healthy packed lunches your

Healthy packed lunches your kids will love Nutritional therapist and naturopath Caroline Peyton shares some healthy lunchbox ideas to sustain your child through the long winter months.

It’s difficult enough to prepare daily lunch boxes for your children for weeks at a time, but how do you try to keep these healthy and also satisfying through the cold winter months? As a mother of 20-year-old twin girls who did not have school meals throughout their entire school years, I understand how exhausting it can be to keep the lunchbox contents interesting, as well as satisfying and healthy.

First and foremost, do not be tempted to forgo fresh crunchy vegetables just because it is winter. Opening up a lunchbox and seeing colourful vegetables rather than just a blandlooking sandwich is cheerful and will add interest and texture to the meal.

We know colds and infections increase through the winter months, so it is important to choose foods to help keep your child’s immune system in tip-top condition. Nutrients important for the immune system are vitamin C, zinc and selenium.

With this in mind, it is great to include vegetable sticks like carrot, red and yellow pepper with a small pot of hummus to dip. Hummus contains sesame seeds, which contain zinc and selenium. Kiwi fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, so cut one in half, wrap in tinfoil and pop in a spoon so that your child can scoop out the contents. Apple slices or a pip-free clementine are other good options.

Sugar creates an instant rush of energy, but not in a good way, as it also results in a sudden crash. Instead, it is important to consider plenty of protein to help keep your child full and able to concentrate through the afternoon. Choosing wholegrains rather than refined (white ones) and adding vegetables helps to provide fibre and keep blood sugar stable. This also helps to keep children focused, calm and energised through the day.

Try to avoid snack bars, as they are laden with sugars that are often hidden by using different complex names. Also watch out for dried fruit, like raisins, dates and figs, in these bars as these too are sugarrich. There is a temptation to think they are ‘healthy’, but the sugars cause the same blood sugar crashes. Boiled eggs, chicken skewers, oatcakes with cream cheese or sunflower seed butter are healthier and sustaining mid-morning snacks.

For a slightly older child, hot soup in a flask is a welcome lunch during the cold winter months. Consider a lentil or vegetable soup with added mixed beans. If you have leftover meat from a roast dinner, tear small strips and add to a vegetable soup.

Try wheat-free pasta alternatives (buckwheat, chickpea, lentil) and serve with a tomato or pesto sauce, but add protein such as salmon, chicken slices or tuna. Add chopped pepper, cucumber and sweetcorn. Great colours!

Brown rice, couscous or quinoa served with roasted vegetables and crumbled feta cheese.

Look for wheat-alternative wraps such as oat or sweet potato or wholemeal pitta bread. Spread a little hummus, pesto or cream cheese, and add plenty of lettuce and chicken slices.

Frittata is an Italian-style egg dish cooked with potatoes, cheese, herbs, tomatoes and any vegetables you have to hand. This is commonly served cold and makes a very nutritious and filling lunch.

Caroline Peyton of Peyton Principles is a naturopath and nutritional therapist with clinics in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

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