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Children's Health Children's Nutrition and Fitness

Packing A Smart And Delicious School Lunch

Summary & Participants

Packing a healthy and delicious school lunch for the student in your life made easy.

Medically Reviewed On: August 01, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Back to school means back to school lunches and, no matter what age, there’s a perfect lunch for the student in your life.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.: For an elementary school child, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, especially if it’s on whole-grain bread, very acceptable, really tasty. Kids love it (and it’s) easy to eat. The banana (is) also very easy to eat. And believe it or not, bananas are high in fiber. Yogurts are a great source of calcium, very acceptable for kids. They love it.

ANNOUNCER: If peanut allergies are a concern, soy butter can be a safe alternative, if it is made in a peanut-free facility. But experts recommend checking with your doctor before trying it if your child has food allergies.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.: This one should be more for middle school - a sandwich that comes in a wrap, especially a whole-grain tortilla, gives you a chance to give them whole grains, some fiber. But it really is very easy for them to eat. And I would try to be sure that the wrap has in it some sort of lettuce and tomatoes, especially a dark green lettuce, some sort of protein. It could be turkey. It could be cheese. Because, as we know, kids really need calcium for their growing bones and they don’t get enough of it.

ANNOUNCER: For all your students’ lunches, don’t forget the h2o.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.: As a beverage, water is a great idea, because they are very often running around. You want to prevent dehydration, so water is terrific.

ANNOUNCER: And what about the teenagers?

Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.: For the high school student, something like this really provides a little bit of everything, the salad provides vegetables. It also provides fiber, which is important, because most teens don’t get enough fiber in their diet. A mixture of different kinds of, you know, nuts and fruit, dried fruit - dried fruit is high in iron. A lot of teens don’t get enough iron, particularly teenage girls, who need a lot of iron.

ANNOUNCER: And fruit is always a great snack for any school lunch.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.: Fruit, which is going to be high in antioxidants, beautiful colors, easy to eat, very portable.

ANNOUNCER: So send your student back to school with an A+ lunch! Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.