Wellbeing

Packed with Goodness

Providing good food every day gives children the fuel they need to play, grow and learn. Parents are the first and most important role models when it comes to eating well, which includes packing a healthy lunchbox full of fresh and nutritious meals and snacks for children to take to school. With only 1 in every 16 Australian children eating enough vegetables, the lunchbox is a great opportunity to increase daily serves.

This year Resurrection School has been fortunate enough to continue working with Belinda Nowakowski, a Healthy Kids Advisor from the City of Greater Dandenong.   Belinda helps schools to boost delicious and healthy food and drink options in places where children and young people learn, live and play.

Belinda has been showing our school community that change is possible- 1 step at a time- when the entire school community is on board.  So far we have added four healthier food options to our canteen menu. We have also switched our deep fryer machine with an air fryer machine.  All of these changes have been generiously paid for my the Dandenong Council.

We are proud to have a Healthy Kids Advisor at our school and we look forward to celebrating success with our changes.

Last year, there have been some healthy changes in the canteen menu. These changes have been made to encourage a healthier diet for our students. The canteen has started using air fryers instead of deep fryers. They have replaced sugary cupcakes with delicious fruit muffins. There is now fruit in the jelly cups. The jelly cups are also lighter than the previous jelly cups. Robyn the canteen manager has worked very hard to make these changes happen. Thank you so much for caring about what we eat, we appreciate it!  By Elizabeth

Here are some tips from Belinda for making lunchboxes even healthier.

How do you pack a lunchbox with 

g o o d n e s s ?

By the time a child has finished primary school they will have eaten from their lunchbox almost 2500 times. Packing healthy lunchboxes is a great opportunity to provide children with a wide variety of fresh, yummy and healthy foods in order to grow and thrive. 

Each day children need: 

*Something for brainfood time (fruit or veg) 

• Something for recess (mini meal) 

• Something for lunch (main meal) 

• Water to drink 

Here are some healthy eating checklists for children:

My child won’t eat what's in their lunchbox

Sometimes your child won’t eat the food you pack them, which can be very frustrating. 

Try these parent-tested tips: 

• Make sure the food is easy to eat and doesn’t make a mess. Chop fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces. 

• Add a small container of dip like hummus or guacamole with your chopped vegetable sticks. It's amazing the difference a dip makes. 

• Don’t label your child as not liking a food and don’t give up. Persistence pays off. 

• Ask them if they're bored with their lunchbox. They might want more variety than you! 

• Check if there is something you're packing that they really don’t like. It is okay for them to choose one healthy food over another, just not to remove healthy foods altogether. 

• Get them involved in packing their lunchbox. Some children are more likely to eat their food when they have played a part in choosing and packing it. 

• Resist packing a treat to reward your child for eating their healthy foods or for good behaviour. It will spoil their appetite and reduce the amount of healthy foods they are eating. If you want to put something lovely in their lunchbox try a little love note or a joke. 

• They may simply be running out of time to eat and play in their short break. Keep the food simple and easy to munch-and-go. 

• Make sure the after-school snack you are offering your child is wholesome and healthy too.

Pack less packets

Reducing pre-packaged snack foods and reaching for healthy snacks instead means you can increase fruits and vegetables, add wholegrains, manage portion size and reduce the amount of added sugar, saturated fat and salt your child is eating. 

Pre-packaged snack foods contain additives and preservatives that improve their appearance and shelf life. Commonly used additives and preservatives include sugar, antioxidants, salt and food colouring. If you are concerned about additives and preservatives remember that the best way to reduce your child's intake is to reduce the amount of processed and pre-packaged snack foods they eat. Additives and preservatives are safe for most people when eaten as part of a healthy, varied diet. 

Pre-packaged snack foods are sometimes foods rather than every day foods. Teach children to reach for one of these healthy snacks instead!