Mom to the Rescue
Packing a nutrition and energizing lunch is crucial to keeping your kid active and alert at school. One of the key parts of any mom or dad's daily routine is ensuring a healthy meal, and this list goes over the crucial dos and don'ts.
1. Pre-Packaged Lunches
While pre-packaged lunches like Lunchly or Lunchables may be a total time-saver, they’re terrible for your kid's health. This is because these pre-packaged lunches often have little to no nutritional value and way too much sodium.
2. Sodas
By now most parents know not to give their kids sodas, but even diet sodas aren’t all that safe. This is because the sugar alternatives can be too strong for sensitive and growing stomachs.
3. Whole Grapes
For younger kids especially, you’ll want to avoid foods like cherry tomatoes or grapes. This is because these fruits are quite a choking hazard, and are a common cause of harm to children under the age of 5.
4. Deli Meats
While a deli meat sandwich may be one of their favorite snacks, it's one you’ll want to avoid when it comes to lunchtime. This is because these meats actually spoil quite quickly, so if you are going to pack one, be sure to throw in an ice pack too.
5. Peanut Butter
While peanut butter is a tasty and totally safe snack to have at home, at school you’ll be exposing peanut butter to kids with allergies. Many schools have allergy policies in place to prevent this, so just be mindful.
Corleto Peanut butter on Unsplash
6. Fried Foods
While your kid will rejoice at McDonald's or KFC for breakfast, it’s no good for their health in the long run. These foods also get soggy and greasy quickly, and are pretty unappetizing when cold.
7. Cookies
While it’s fun to give your kid a little dessert-like treat, cookies aren’t the best bet. This is because they’re loaded with sugars that give brief energy highs followed by intense crashes.
8. Fresh Fish
While fish is healthy and nutritious, it can also be quite smelly, especially in certain forms. So be sure to smell-check before packing the lunch, as it may lead to your kid getting picked on.
9. Egg Salad
Similarly, despite how tasty egg salad is, it’s also on the smellier side of foods and can cause embarrassment or be off-putting to kids. If you do want to make a mild sandwich, consider cream cheese or cucumbers instead.
10. Energy Drinks
While energy drinks may sound like a great way to energize your kids, they’re often packed with caffeine and sugar. This can be unsafe for growing children and isn’t the best beverage to get them through their day.
Now that we have talked about foods you never want to pack for your kids, here are 10 you totally should.
1. Wraps
Wraps are a filling and healthy food that are often better than sandwiches due to the ability to use whole wheat wraps. Just make sure the filling is as healthy as the outside, prioritizing things like turkey, hummus, or veggies.
2. Fun Veggies
You might be wondering what vegetable counts as fun, and the answer to that is any veggie works as long as it’s cut right. You want to use colorful veggies and present them in interesting ways.
3. Cold Pasta
If your kid does enjoy some cozy carbs, consider packing them some cold pasta. You can decide on the fillings, but a macaroni salad has plenty of veggies and is also good to eat, even when not at its warmest.
4. Protein
A great way to energize your kid for the day is by packing them protein-rich goods. Think grilled chicken or turkey, or even Greek yogurt, or string cheese—all easy-to-access foods that are good for them.
5. Trail Mix
If you want to give your kid a treat they can snack on throughout the day, it doesn’t get healthier than trail mix. Not only can they customize the fillings, but this is a great way to incorporate small amounts of candies like dark chocolate or M&Ms alongside healthier nuts and dried fruits.
6. Carrots and Hummus
A favorite snack among adults as well, carrots and hummus are a classic pairing. The crisp vegetable is healthy, while the chickpea-based hummus is full of healthy proteins. Plus, kids love dipping things.
7. Grain Salad
There are plenty of grain salads to choose from, and plenty of them have health benefits that your kid will appreciate. Consider options like quinoa, couscous salad, or even chickpea salad, full of healthy fibers.
8. 100% Fruit Juice
As an alternative to soda, and more interesting than water, consider packing juice. Just be careful to avoid the super sugary juices that most markets sell, as many of these can have more sugar than sodas.
9. Apple Slices and Lemon
Apple slices are another super popular snack that is full of fiber and is quite filling as well. Of course, most kids hate how their apples brown, so to prevent this throw in some lemon juice to keep them fresh longer.
Jessica Lewis 🦋 thepaintedsquare on Unsplash
10. Sandwiches
All kids love sandwiches, as they are super versatile, filling, and easy to eat as well. Some popular sandwich pairings include turkey and lettuce, or even cucumber and cheese if you want to keep it vegetarian.
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