Brown Bag Makeover: Healthy School Lunch Ideas
Make a MyPlate Lunch
The MyPlate 50-25-25 rule can easily translate to your kid's lunchbox. Choose your protein (such as yogurt, sandwich meat, beans or edamame), a whole grain (sandwich bread, whole wheat pasta salad or whole grain crackers, for instance) and generous helpings of fruits and vegetables. Take the humble turkey sandwich, a lunchtime standard. Add an apple and veggie sticks and, voilà, you've got a well-balanced lunch.
Quick tip: Upgrade your plastic baggies to a Bento box lunchbox. Its reusable containers of varying sizes promote variety and allow for MyPlate-style portion control.
Reviewed by Elaine Brown, MD on August 30, 2013
Sources
Keith Kantor, MD, author of the book What Matters and member of the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award Committee
Amy Johnson, a registered dietitian in northern Virginia
https://www.drkeithkantor.com/
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/legislation/nutritionstandards.htm
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf
https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/breakfastforlearning.pdf
https://www.benthamscience.com/cnf/sample/cnf3-1/D0002NF.pdf
https://www.benthamscience.com/cnf/sample/cnf3-1/D0002NF.pdf
https://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/spacelab/pubs/MahoneyEtAl.pdf
https://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/q_a/breakfast_question.html
https://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/snacking.html
https://kidshealth.org/teen/diabetes_center/treatment/blood_sugar_low.html
https://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/outreach/parenting/research/upload/Family-Mealtimes-2.pdf