Cooking Healthy for Kids: A Healthy LunchLike breakfast, lunch is an incredibly important meal of the day. This is your child's body's chance to refuel, and keep going. A healthy lunch should address at least three of the five food groups, and in their recommended serving sizes. The recommended servings are very important. Many make the mistake of eating a big lunch to either make up for a missed breakfast or just because they are used to it from the large serving sizes of restaurants. A very large lunch is not very good for either you or your children. Large lunches tend to make people sleepy, and as a result rather unproductive until later in the afternoon once their body has gone through some of the stages of digestion. Also, large lunches can make people gain unnecessary weight. This is because the average person does not burn enough calories each day to work off their large lunch. Most of the time after lunch activities involve sitting in a classroom, and listening to a teacher. If your child has a strenuous daily exercise routine, then it is understandable that they will eat more at lunch time. But if they don't, a large lunch now can cause problems for them in the future. Lunches should be just right. A good everyday lunch can involve a serving and a half of vegetables, like a salad, a few ounces of protein, and about two grains servings. Without your knowing it, children will naturally go for the grains and protein groups because their bodies will be trying to replenish their energy. This is why when people say lunch, many people think cheeseburgers or pizza, both of which have grains and protein, but aren't the healthiest of choices. Try getting your children to go for energy foods like fruit and vegetables, but make sure to provide them with some protein and grains, as these will fill them up, and will tide them over till the afternoon snack. Fruits and vegetables have a lot of energy in them, and choosing the right ones can both fill your child and provide them with much needed energy. It can be difficult to encourage your children to eat healthily when they are having lunch elsewhere, like school for example, and all their friends are eating the same kinds of food. Many school cafeterias don't serve the healthiest of foods. And though they do address some of the food groups, the oils and fats that these foods tend to come with is not good for your child's body at all. Some other schools have good lunch programs, providing salad bars and grilled meats for their students. The best way for you to know about it is to ask the school. Having this knowledge will help you when talking to your children about the choices they make when ordering lunch at school. If your child's school doesn't have a good lunch program, you can make them a packed lunch to take to school (more on that in the next section.) If your children are young, and they have lunch at home, it is easier for you to arrange the quality of their lunches. Assuming you have a menu for the week, make sure that your child's daily lunch addresses the food groups they will not get from the other meals of that day. Making sure all the food group requirements are met is a great way for your child to stay at the peak of health. Finally, never skip lunch. It is a needed meal for your child's health. Next Article: Cooking Healthy for Kids: A Healthy Packed Lunch |
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How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy Food - Without A Fight!
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