Wellbeing - Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating 

(adapted from raisingchildren.net.au and Healthy Eating Advisory Service)

Key points

• A healthy lunch gives kids energy to play, concentrate and learn.
• Get your child involved in choosing, preparing and packing their own lunch box.
• A healthy lunch box includes options from the 5 food groups.

Why your child needs a healthy lunch

A healthy lunch box full of fresh food gives your child energy to play, concentrate and learn all day.

What you put in your child’s lunch box depends on your child’s age. And how much you put in your child’s lunch box depends on your child’s appetite and the length of your child’s day.

What to pack in a healthy lunch box

Packing a lunch box from home means you can offer your child a range of healthy lunch options from the 5 food groups:

Options that get the 5 food groups into your child’s lunch box

• A sandwich with wholegrain bread and a filling like salad, cheese, lean meat or falafel
• Different types of grain foods – rye breads, baguettes, seeded rolls, pita bread pockets, flat bread, wraps, focaccia or Turkish bread
• Dips like hummus, tzatziki or beetroot, along with pita, water crackers or vegetable sticks for dipping
• Potato salad, chickpea salad, quinoa salad, Greek salad or tabbouleh
• Leftover pasta, rice and noodle dishes from dinner, kept and eaten cold, kept cold and reheated, or taken in a thermos
• Yoghurt and fruit or muesli, kept cold

Nutritious snack options

• Fruit – fresh fruit, stewed fruit in natural juice, or a small handful of dried fruit
• Yoghurt or pieces of cheese
• Muesli
• Fruit bread, pikelets or wholegrain crackers
• Homemade healthy muffins with vegetables or fruit – for example, sultanas, carrot, banana, pumpkin or zucchini

Sweet cakes are best kept for special occasions like birthdays.

What to avoid in your child’s lunch box

Meats like salami, mortadella, Strasburg, smoked turkey and pastrami are highly processed and salty. They can also be high in fat. You might want to save these for every now and then, rather than packing them every day.

How to get your child to eat their lunch

Children usually want to eat quickly so that they can play. These ideas make things easy for them.

Keep it simple

• Choose foods that are simple and easy to eat. Some children might have trouble opening fiddly packaging, or they might avoid foods that make their hands sticky.
• Make sure that containers seal well but can be opened easily – do a test at home. It might be that your child isn’t eating lunch because it’s hard to get at!

Natasha Franchina

Learning Diversity Leader  / Wellbeing Leader 

MHiPS Leader