**This post is sponsored by Intermountain Health Care. As always, all opinions are mine.
This week I was invited to a blogger event as part of the Intermountain Health Care’s LiVeWell Healthy Lunches campaign along with a few other local Utah bloggers. We spent the evening discussing different ways to keep our kids lunches healthy. And I wanted to share some of those ideas with you!
I was introduced to the new ChooseMyPlate guidelines that are now used instead of the Food Pyramid to help us better understand how to make healthier food choices and how much of each food category to eat each meal.
So the idea with the plate is that half of your meal is fruits and vegetables, then add a small amount of lean protein, whole grains and a low fat dairy item. Next week I’m going to be sharing a meal plan idea with you with 5 healthy lunch ideas that will be delicious and simple for you to pack up for your children to take to school (but also tasty enough that you can eat them for lunch too!)
So at the event we had the chance to make our own healthy balanced lunch (for dinner) too. This is mine (a turkey sandwich, cheese, vegetables, and some fruit kebabs) protein, whole grain, dairy, veggies and fruit!
Some ideas that we discussed on how to help your children enjoy eating their healthy lunches were:
- Have your children help you with the planning. Of course you don’t want your kids eating candy for lunch, but if you give them healthy choices to choose from then they can get excited that they are helping and that they can eat what the want. Let them choose if they want an apple or an orange for lunch. A wrap or a sandwich. Etc.
- Make the appearance of the lunch fun. Cut their sandwich into shapes with cookie cutters, make their fruit into a rainbow. (I hope to share a few more fun ideas with you next week!)
- Be observant about what your kids like and don’t like. If they are constantly bringing home part of their lunch uneaten see if you can give them a different healthy option to fill that food group.
- Try something new. Maybe you can make a game out of the new foods your kids try, give them a sticker or points towards a bigger prize. Or maybe you can just let them sing a song and clap after they tried the new food. Another idea is if you are sending them with something new in their school lunch you can send enough so that they can share the new item with their friends.
- Lastly, remember to pack the lunch the night before. This will save you from the stress of rushing in the morning before school and will help you avoid grabbing the quick but unhealthy foods to fill the lunches with.
How do you get your kids to eat their lunches?
And just to get you excited, and to help you with packing your children’s lunches Intermountain is hosting a month long giveaway. Each week 2 winners will be selected and will win one of the Rubbermaid Lunch Blox containers, which are perfect for portion control as well as to help those picky eaters who don’t like their foods to touch. Head over here to enter the giveaway today!
Vanessa Barker says
This is great. I make my sons lunch everyday and I’m happy to say the fruit and veggies in the main thing he eats, but it’s a great reminder that he needs to have a good balance of everything.
Lauren Allen says
I love the new MyPlate..it makes so much more sense than the pyramid did and it’s easier for kids to understand! Great post
Vicki says
We have had this in P.A, for years in our schools. So much easier than the pyramid.