My family has a tradition of getting all our back-to-school shopping completed just before our big end of the summer vacation. Lunch boxes used to be big ticket back to school items but since my girls are tweens now, as Hilary Duff once sang, “that’s so yesterday”. Plus on most school days we’re lucky if their lunches make it from the frig to their backpacks!

If only the choice of what to have for lunch these days were as easy as whether to brown bag it or have a fancy lunch box. With the confusing food pyramid and ever changing food guidelines coupled with school days that barely allow for time to eat lunch, it is truly a challenge to get kids a proper lunch.

Let me give you a preview of what’s about to come: don’t view nutrition as one meal but view it as a group of meals that balance out together and function like a bank; lunch may very well be the new breakfast, meaning our kids most important energy meal.

Some Thoughts To Ponder

As my kids have gotten older, I’ve realized that helping my kids eat healthy is a balance between offering healthy foods, giving them control of some of their meals, and helping them learn to incorporate the less healthy foods with the healthy foods. Concerning lunch specifically:

1. Given how much of their day is decided by others, especially at school, I give my kids total control over what they have for lunch among the foods we have at home.
2. I’ve started to realize that lunch is not just a meal in a day but a meal that has to get my kids through the entire day including learning and after school activities. It is perhaps their most important energy meal when viewed this way.
3. Fruits and veggies are crucial to their overall growth but don’t always get that energy jolt needed to learn.  So, I tend reserve fruits and veggies for dinner and after-school snacks and add more carbohydrates like pretzels and granola bars for lunch and in-school snacks.  The energy they provide lasts longer for my girls.
4. It occurred to me that getting through a school day is like a mini marathon for my kids but involving both body and mind.  Just like with a marathon, hydration becomes as crucial as energy. So, I’ve put more emphasis on what they drink during the day and how much.
5. When my kids have a sugary snack occurring at school, we don’t pack a snack that day or pack veggie sticks but leave lunch untouched. Lunch needs to happen as planned to learn well.

Kids and Food: The Big Picture

These concepts that have helped me, can work for your kids, too. In addition, you have to remember that kids have simple tastes hence why kids menus have the same 5 foods on them regardless of the restaurant! And, unlike us parents, kids can truly eat the same meal every day without getting bored. I swear my youngest daughter will one day become a ham or waffle!

As I mentioned earlier, considering lunch in the big picture of your child’s overall nutrition is really helpful.  The government’s new food pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) gives a great visual description of what kids should eat during the day but it can be overwhelming. I know my kids don’t come anywhere close to what the pyramid suggests for a given day but their nutrition is fine if I take into account what they eat over the course of a few days.  So, if one day has more carbohydrates or fewer fruits, I help them make-up for it the next day. If one day has an extra treat built in, we skip dessert.

Your Kids Food Bank

Give and take, and balance. Those are the ultimate ingredients to success. Each meal has its own role in a child’s day. Breakfast jump starts our bodies after a long sleep. Dinner helps us refuel after the afternoon of physical and mental work and gives us fuel to keep our bodies going while we sleep. Lunch, on the other hand, has to catch us up from the morning and get us through the afternoon until dinner. A lot is being asked of our kids through the day, and lunch has to meet all those needs, including physical growth.  In many ways, breakfast and lunch need to be a bit more carbohydrate slanted and snacks and dinner more balanced with fruits and vegetables.

Lunch is tricky because of not only how brief it is in most schools but because of how important it is. Kids have to make up from energy lost from the morning and store energy for the afternoon, and eat it in about 10 minutes. Pre-cut fruits and vegetables and even prepackaged items such as the new 100 calorie packs are very useful for both purposes. The 100 calorie packs also visually teach portion control which is very useful for prepubertal and early pubertal kids who are primed to gain weight entering puberty. Using these items may not seem healthy to you but it’s what the kids like to eat and what they see their friends eating.

Sandwiches tend to be the best way to get grains and proteins done all at once and are easy to eat quickly. Kids tend to not like the taste of the real grainy breads so try the grain or wheat breads that look like white.   My kids can’t tell the difference.

Finally, for hydration with lunch, my choice is water. Kids don’t get enough during the school day and while I understand that school nutritionists view lunch as a way of getting calcium into our kids we can do that at home. What our kids need is water and more of it during school.

My kids hate buying lunch at school but I know many kids who love school lunches. The problem is school lunches are not always as balanced as they should be. On days your child buys lunch, plan dinners higher in proteins, fruits and vegetables and less in fats and carbohydrates to balance out the day better. Be sure you ask your kids specifically what they had for lunch if they buy to help you plan meals better.

Finally, no school year would be complete without the birthday treats and special events but that extra sugar load need not derail our child’s nutrition train. You can plan a healthier lunch the day of the treat or the next day to balance out the extra treat. Or, just skip dessert with dinner that night. I’m a believer that our kids can have a daily treat once a day but if it happens at school, then it doesn’t happen after school. This is how our kids learn to incorporate the sweets into a normal diet without adding pounds.

Making Deposits and Withdrawals

Clearly lunch will provide the most benefit if the remainder of your child’s meals are healthy.  Kids need breakfast  and skipping it is akin to trying to start a car without gas.  At the end of a day, kids need a healthy dinner, preferably with the entire family as studies demonstrate huge value to kids for the family meal and time together around the table. It fuels their souls! This may not be logistically possible if parents work late or kids need to eat earlier, but have a consistent time all of you are around the table. Perhaps breakfast works better for your family or dessert.

In addition to healthy eating, regular exercise has to be a priority. After sitting in school all day, kids need to burn off steam and have some unstructured time.  You don’t need a gym or organized sport. Just playing outside and regular walks together as a family can go a long way to staying fit. When I was a kid, my dad and I would go for a walk after dinner. Exercise and family time all wrapped into one – and calorie free!

What about weekends? Most weight experts and programs advocate a 5:2 plan for staying on track and this can work for families, too. You stay on track Monday through Friday with healthy eating and exercise but loosen the reins on weekends.  This is when most families eat out or order pizza. There is nothing wrong with indulging once in a while if the remainder of your week is healthy with food and exercise. If our kids learn this now, they’ll have it well ingrained by the time they are on their own.  But, even on weekends, lunch is still the pivot meal. You can’t skip it just because you are having a bit dinner that night. Eat lighter but still eat lunch.  It is that important.

Lunch: the new breakfast

So, breakfast, watch out, there’s a new meal in town, that may very well be more important than you are.

Here’s to a wonderful school year with new horizons and healthy choices…and perhaps even time for our kids to eat their lunch.

(Originally posted August 2007; Updated December 2009)

The lazy days of summer are finally here! Have you been having fun with your family so far? We’ve been enjoying the nice weather and taking advantage of not having such zany schedules.

My favorite part of the summer is to embody the “lazy” from the “lazy days of summer” motto and attempt to find ways to convince my family to embark upon that journey with me. Far from becoming couch potatoes, slowing down is more of a state of mind…a way to refuel and take some time to just go where the wind blows and unclog our minds from the months of road dust that our more hurried lives had deposited.

The unique elements of the summer are the prefect backdrop for this much needed change of pace, but also need to be considered for their powerful seasonal characteristics. To get you on your way, here are my Lazy Summer tips:

Lube up! The sun is stronger this time of year and puts everyone at risk for burning so lube up everyone liberally (2 months and older) with sunscreen SPF 15 or higher.

Always hydrate. Heat illnesses are serious and can creep on kids and adults quickly. Keep everyone hydrated and if anyone seems overly tired or looks dehydrated, seek care immediately.

Zap those bugs. Biting bugs can carry infection so be sure to use DEET bug spray 10-30% for children 2 months of age and older.

You only have one head so protect it! If someone is in motion on a bike, skateboard or even jet ski, they need to protect the head. Having a “no helmet, no bike/skakeboarding/etc policy” and wearing a helmet yourself goes a long way in reinforcing this rule.

Swim smartly. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all kids 4 and older take swim lessons. However, this isn’t a replacement for adult supervision near water but a way to assist children in becoming more water safe as they get older and stronger.

Unplug! Use the summer to unplug and get outdoors. Untethered by technology, you’ll all see the world differently and find yourselves unwinding in ways impossible to during the school year.

Mowing is for adults. Lawn mowers injuries are incredibly serious and avoidable. Kids younger than 12 should never operate push mowers and kids under 16 should never operate ride-ons. And, kids should never ride on mowers with anyone else…ever!

Move and groove every day! Take advantage the long days of summer to get everyone moving more and every day.  You may even find a few activities that can carry over into the next school year.

Eat for the season. The summer is a goldmine for wonderful, fresh fruits and vegetables that make eating new and exciting, even for kids. Take advantage of that to find new, healthy foods for your family that can carry over into the fall and winter, and help balance out the yummy summer ice cream treats.

Remember to focus on fun and family! Family time can be a precious commodity in the school year so grab it while you can this summer and just go for broke with fun being the only rule.

Here’s to a fantastic summer!

Each January, people of all ages resolve to be more fit, eat healthier and dabble in some new and exciting hobbies that have been shelved for far too long. Living by a food, fitness and fun mentality is what I’ve always believed will fuel our souls and help us build in some moderation and restraint for each area.

And, there’s the rub! We mean well, we really do. But, more times than not, we undo our own good intentions by not quite getting where to draw the line between healthy practices and excess. We start off on the right foot with healthy practices but often go overboard and then burn out very quickly, abandoning the new ways for the old, unhealthy ways before the grass pokes through the snow.

If you look a bit deeper at what drives us from getting off track, it’s typically one of a handful of health myths that permeate our society. Here are my favorite, the ones I hear most often:

Myth 1: If you exercise or play a sport you will be fit (or are fit).
Myth 2: Any sleep is better than no sleep and will keep your body functioning well.
Myth 3: It’s ok to eat too much or too little once in a while.

The reality of each couldn’t be further from the myth!

1. Myth 1 Reality:

In truth, being fit is about doing the right exercise in the right way with a mix of aerobic activities and weight bearing exercises. It’s important that our entire body gets moving every week and most of us don’t do that. Sports are fun and have the camaraderie of the team aspect but don’t make us fit given how long we play and the intensity of the play.

So, if you just shoot hoops with the guys or girls, play golf, or play in a baseball or softball league, you won’t be fit. But, if you add biking, jogging, walking, swimming and some weight lifting a couple times a week…you’re much more on your way!

2. Myth 2 Reality:

Our bodies require at least 8 hours of sleep to function well. During sleep, our muscles, nerves, mind and soul repair itself from the day’s wear and tear. If sleep is short-changed, that repair process becomes incomplete and our body isn’t reset to it’s steady state. We do ok with less sleep once in a while but if we short-change sleep chronically, our bodies begin to not function well and other symptoms begin to develop – headaches, GI symptoms, even muscle cramping and pain.

Too much sleep can actually make us feel more tired and doesn’t “catch up” for missed sleep from another time.

It’s best to attempt to have steady sleep as much as possible and if sleep becomes chronically disrupted to consult your physician to help get it back on track.

3. Myth 3 Reality:

Eating must be balanced and regular. Our bodies require a certain amount of calories each day and in the right proportion to function well. If we eat too little, we short change our bodies of valuable calories for energy and nutrients for our body’s systems. If we eat too much, our body has to deal with the excess and we feel punky. Best to strive for a “just right” amount whenever possible.

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So, this new year work on busting these myths to get your food, fitness and fun on the path to good health in a way that not only will count but will stick around long term.

With the federal health reform bill inching closer to becoming a true law, it’s still up for debate whether it will even begin to put a dent in turning around our very confusing, disjointed, expensive and chaotic health care system.

The issue, of course, is that health insurance is not even the tip of the iceberg. Without reforming the innards of the health care system and giving people a system that they can understand and use more easily, it matters very little whether people have insurance coverage.

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Happy New Year! The arrival of a new year grants us another opportunity to tackle those issues we love to jot in our minds as important but somehow never quite accomplish as we had hoped. That’s the problem with most resolutions. They seem so daunting we basically freeze.

What does work is making small changes in our lives that carry a punch for a long term health impact. Small change, Big Results is a philosophy I’ve been advocating for a while now, and works! It works because it gives you a realistic place to start, builds a solid foundation to grow from, and helps you start on solid ground before building momentum in the cause you are trying to tackle.

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