Healthy packed lunch ideas for school

What's in a typical school meal?

When it comes to school meals, government guidelines¹ in England state that schools should provide a balanced offering for lunches. School meals should include:

• Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables - one or more portions every day.

• Unrefined starchy foods such as wholegrain bread or pasta - one or more portions every day.

• Meat or poultry - three or more days each week.

• Oily fish - once or more every three weeks.

• Dairy foods - one portion every day.

They should also severely limit foods high in fat, sugar and salt.

Schools are expected to limit the intake of certain foods and ensure a wide variety of healthy, fresh food options. Even government guidance allows for a little treat a few times a week, with fried and high-sugar foods not completely off the menu.

While most schools are signed up to these healthy eating standards, it's important you check with your individual school. They may also provide you with a menu to look at. But providing you are happy with the menu, school meals can pack a nutritional punch that is hard to beat.

These school meal guidelines are in place to guarantee that your children are offered a balanced, healthy diet with plenty of vegetables and fruit. Even if they're picky eaters, it might be worth trying this option, as children are often influenced by what their peers eat.

Creating a filling packed lunch

It's important that your child's packed lunch is healthy, nutritious and sufficiently filling. Bahee Van de Bor, paediatric dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, says:

"Growing children need the right nutrition to develop and learn at school. Iron-rich foods have a role in thinking and memory to support learning. Slow releasing and high-fibre carbohydrate foods will help fill hungry bellies so they feel full and satisfied during the school day."

Packed lunch ideas for slow-release carbs:

• Sandwiches with wholemeal bread.

• Wholemeal pasta salad.

Packed lunch ideas for iron-rich foods:

• Dried fruit snacks, such as apricots.

• Pasta or salad additions - for example, beans, chicken, eggs, or lentils.

Make sure you pack plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Research² shows a clear link between higher fruit and vegetable intake and better mental health wellbeing among secondary school pupils.

While there are many inspirational websites for packed lunch ideas, they don't have to be fancy or filled with hard-to-source and expensive grains to provide the best nutrition for your child.

However, it is a good idea to regularly introduce your child to new foods. For example, putting in something extra - like a carrot stick - can help improve their understanding of the types of healthy foods available, even if they don't eat it.

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Healthy treats

While it's important to keep an eye on the overall lunch box content, realistically most parents will want to slip in a little treat from time to time. Guidance to schools for school meals allows for small amounts of fried and high-sugar foods - up to two servings of fried or breadcrumb coated food per week - as well as yoghurt or fruit-based desserts containing at least 50% fruit.

If you can include sweet - but relatively healthy - snacks that your child views as a treat, even better. Examples include:

• Flapjacks made with dried fruit and honey - instead of refined sugar.

• Muffins crammed with healthy berries.

• Colourful vitamin-rich smoothies.

• Adding lemon or orange slices to water.

Moderation is key, and being too restrictive about what your child eats can cause stress, or problems later in life. In addition, often friends will have a treat in their packed lunch, and your child may feel pressure to have something similar.

Likewise, school dinners will offer a pudding of some sort. It's all about variety, moderation and an overall healthy balance.

Further reading

1. GOV.UK: School meals - food standards.

2. Hayhoe et al: Cross-sectional associations of schoolchildren’s fruit and vegetable consumption, and meal choices, with their mental well-being: a cross-sectional study.