6 School Kindergarten Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters
They say that we are what we eat and we all know that children’s diet has a direct and immediate effect on their wellbeing, general health and dental health. Parents are always careful about what their kids eat at home and make sure that they get the right nutrition and avoid what is bad for them……
But what about when your lovely child is at school? What are they going to eat? Are they going to eat junk? Imagine what a school year of unhealthy food could do to your child’s dental health.
The best advice as a paediatric dentist is to pack your child a complete healthy lunchbox that would have these below important factors for any kid:
- Looks: it has to be appealing visually
- Taste: it has to taste good or amazing
- Nutrition: Its packed with these healthy nutritious food items
- Tooth friendly: Last but not least it has to be approved by your favourite best pediatric dentist
Replacing unhealthy food with healthy alternatives is the first step to change your kids diet during school hours and make sure that he/she is receiving enough nutrition and vitamins. Read along to know how you could prepare their lunch box differently to make sure your lovely child is eating well at school and that their lunch box is dentist approved.
Replace chips with crispy vegetables
Kids usually love to have crunchy snacks like chips or chees balls with their meals and sandwiches to enjoy the crunchiness. But did you know that you can easily change that, and prepare healthier options for them?
My suggestion is to replace processed crunchies with healthy crunchy fresh vegetables that are full of nutrition and vitamins and help make your child’s teeth stronger. Raw crunchy vegetables that you can easily cut are: Carrots, celery and cucumber. My suggestion is to involve your kids in the grocery shopping and ask them to choose the vegetable they like to have, to get them more excited about having them at school. Pack this with a protein rich dip like hummus and we got ourselves a wholesome meal/snack packed with everything a mommy can desire for her kid.
You can also think of kale chips! So nutritious and easy to make. Bake those yummy fresh kale leaves and add a sprinkle of flavour and a kid wont know the difference!
Add a colourful Salad
Salads and leafy greens are rich sources of nutrition. Some kids don’t like salads, but if they see parents and teachers have it, they might become interested too as it makes them feel like grownups. Put aside salad dressing and don’t mix it with the salad. Sometimes kids don’t like a dressing and might prefer to have their salad plain. Green vegetables contain vitamins and minerals and will help avoid dental problems.
Plant based milk
Paediatric dentists always urge parents to include milk and other dairy products in kids’ diet. But did you know that plant-based milk contains the same amount of calcium? You can pack plant-based milk along with your child’s lunch as a break time snack. Cashew milk, coconut milk, almond milk and other plant-based milks are amazing source of calcium and we know calcium is wonderful for teeth. My best advice is make sure that they are not flavoured as this packs a lot of calories and definitely sugar! Don’t forget sugar causes cavities…watch this video for more information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKh_Zm_ZkAY&lc=z22uyfkqfryztnjkeacdp430a1552gttgxmwye0psb1w03c010c
Also please read this blog for more information about the topic:
https://www.dryasmin.ae/news/eid-mubarak-eid-and-its-sweet-attack-on-your-childs-teeth/
Nuts and seeds
Nuts are rich in folic acid, which plays an important role at keeping gums healthy and preventing gum disease. Kids usually like nut mixtures and you can add them to their lunch box as a healthy snack. Nuts and seeds are another crunchy snack that paediatric dentists suggest as a suitable replacement for chips and processed crunchy snacks. They are great in fat content which means it’s a caloric dense meal that gives the child a lot of energy to run around and jump around and its effect last long. This is a great contrast of the effect of sugar which is short lived!
Cheese
Cheese is a great source of protein and calcium and they come in so many flavours you can always find your child’s favourite. You can cut cheese with animal shaped moulds to make it look more child friendly and more fun for your child to have it. Eating cheese increase saliva in the mouth helping prevent cavities and gum disease. It also makes the saliva rich with calcium! Teeth love calcium just like bones do! More calcium is healthy teeth! Who knew cheese had such super powers?
Fruits
Fruits are high in fiber and act like a natural tooth brush when kids bit and chew. Amazing right? Apples, bananas and strawberries are all a healthy substitution for dessert you can pack in your lovely child’s lunch boxes.
I know that preparing lunch boxes can be a tough task while you are getting the kids ready, brushing their hair and packing their books, especially if you have more than one kid at home. And as a paediatric dentist healthy school lunch ideas and what your child eats at school is truly my concern.
I definitely suggest that you make weekly plans ahead of time and list your grocery shopping according to healthy lunch box ideas to reduce your morning chores and make sure that your lovely children eat healthy at school. Who would think that Teeth friendly school lunchbox ideas can be made so easy!
Do get in touch with your questions and share with us your experience.
“To a lifetime of healthy happy smiles!”
So don’t delay your child his first Pediatric dentist visit, at our pediatric dentistry clinic in Dubai health care city you can schedule an appointment, we will be happy to give you your child the best dental care.
“To a lifetime of healthy happy smiles!”
