Children should have a balanced diet of ingredients from all four food groups at every meal: grain products, fruits and vegetables, milk or milk products, and meat and protein.
Serve child-friendly portions
Give your kid a child's portion of any food rather than an adult one. For instance, give your child between half a cup and a cup of milk, half a bagel or a quarter cup of juice.
Propose other foods
Keep in mind that your child may not like the same foods as the rest of the family. It is important that you understand it and try to plan meals and snacks with your child. If he/she does not like what is served for dinner, help him/her choose the dinner menu for the next day.
Healthy and affordable lunches
If there is no extracurricular day care at your child's school, he/she will have to bring his/her lunch to school but you can always call the school to see if they have a canteen. Try to vary your kid’s lunch. A good idea is to buy bread, crackers, bagels and sandwich fillings so that you can prepare easy, fast and healthy meals for your child. It is important to make sure that the meals are safe for consumption. Hot food should be kept warm and cold one cool. To keep food warm, you can use a thermos and for the cool one you can use a box of frozen juice that you have placed in the freezer the day before.
Lunch ideas from the four food groups
- Meat, cheese and lettuce in pita bread, carrots, an orange and milk;
- leftovers of spaghetti with meat sauce, vegetables and dip, fresh fruit and milk;
- crackers with cheese cubes and cold cuts, slices of cucumber, a box of fruit juice and milk.
Other sandwich ideas
- Tortillas: put meat, cheese, lettuce or other vegetables on a tortilla, then roll it;
- A pita bread: stuff the pita bread with the leftovers of the evening meal;
- An egg sandwich with raw vegetables and yogurt;
- Pita bread or whole wheat tortilla with tomato sauce, cheese, slices of green pepper and pepperoni;
- Macaroni and cheese and cut fruits;
- Pita bread stuffed with chickpea spread, lettuce, tomato slices and cheese;
- A whole wheat tortilla rolled with peanut butter and a banana;
- Whole wheat bagel with applesauce, cinnamon and raisins;
- Tuna mixed with a ricotta cheese spread on crackers;
- Roll tortilla with black bean dip and salsa;
- Pizza leftovers;
- Chilli or soup in a thermos.