Building a Balanced Lunchbox - a Dietitian's Guide for Healthy Lunch for Kids

An everyday pressure parents can feel is what to put in their child’s lunchbox, and making nutritious choices! Making it harder is children are given messages promoting the not-so healthy, more processed snack foods for their lunchbox.  

Below is a cheat sheet to best offer a variety and balance of nutrients to help your child with good nutrition to remain alert during lessons and equally importantly give them the energy to run around and socialise with their friends throughout the school day. 

Aim to offer at least one food from each category, include familiar foods and new foods to increase variety and to keep your child interested in eating at school. 

Protein

  • Cubed or sliced turkey, chicken or ham

  • Ground meat / mince

  • Tuna or salmon

  • Hard-boiled egg

  • Cheese

  • Greek or natural yoghurt tub

  • Cottage cheese or ricotta

  • Hummus

  • Nut / seed butter or handful of nuts (if allowed at the school)

  • Beans or lentils 

  • Quiche or frittata 

Carbohydrate

  • Pasta / pasta salad 

  • Wholegrain bread

  • Wholegrain pita / wrap

  • Cubed potato / sweet potato

  • Quinoa, rice, couscous

  • Cooked corn 

  • Wholegrain crackers 

  • Lentil pasta 

  • Pikelets

  • Homemade savoury or fruit muffin 

  • Leftover homemade pizza

Veggie

  • Celery sticks

  • Carrot sticks or baby carrots

  • Cucumber slices

  • Capsicum sticks 

  • Snap peas

  • Green beans

  • Zucchini sticks 

  • Tomato slices or cherry tomatoes 

  • Leftover roast veggies 

  • Steamed broccoli / cauliflower 

Fruit

  • Banana

  • Apple

  • Orange 

  • Pear 

  • Berries: strawberries / blueberries / raspberries

  • Cut grapes

  • Watermelon slices

  • Melon cubes

  • Mango cheeks 

  • Kiwi fruit 

  • Avocado / guacamole

    Fluid

  • Always send a bottle of cold water to sip on throughout the day: aim for 600mL bottle that can be refilled during the day

  • Water is the best choice for children for hydration and health

  • Including an ice-block in the lunchbox can also help keep the foods fresh and safe

Fat

  • Whole milk dairy: cheese, yoghurt

  • Eggs

  • Avocado / guacamole

  • Olives

  • Nut butters 

Fat assists absorption of nutrients and helps feeling full. 

Encourage your child to be involved in building their lunchbox by allowing them to choose from the above options, write a shopping list together and then preparing their own lunchbox the night before. This can help them feel independent, motivated to enjoy their nutritious lunch and not come home starving and requesting food as soon as they walk in the door in the afternoon! 

Andrew DaubneyRebound Health