Healthy Lunch Ideas for Teens and Kids

What do our kids actually need to fuel themselves during the school day? How do I get them to "buy in"? Read the post below for some ideas!

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on unsplash.com.

Recently, I was inspired by Dr. Mark Hyman's instagram post about taking back nutrition in schools. In this post, he mentions how children and teens are not taught basic cooking skills (which isn't true everywhere, for every child/teen), that we should introduce salad bars, eliminate or reduce processed foods in cafeterias, and more. As a high school teacher of almost 12 years, I felt really strongly about his post and thought to myself: but do parents know what teens really need?

Here I've included a few macro recommendations, snacks, and the overall benefits to our children and teens eating a nutritious diet during the school day.

Breakfast

It's a saying for a reason: breakfast truly is an important meal, and especially for growing humans like children and teens. Breakfast needs to be satiating, full of protein, fat, and fibre, to support our children's growing brains and bodies. It also needs to balance blood sugar, so that their energy levels stay consistent throughout the day. What you'll notice about your child/teen when they eat a whole foods breakfast is that they are less sleepy, less cranky, and overall more energized for the day.

A truly nutritious breakfast needs three things: protein, fat, and fibre. I don't advise a carb-heavy breakfast, because our breakfasts need to set our blood sugar for the day. This unfortunately means that cereal is not our best breakfast; I know how busy mornings can be, but it can be a nice moment of calm in the morning for the whole family to get together and share a meal. For teens who struggle to eat in the morning, encourage them to make a quick smoothie.

Nutritious Breakfast Ideas

• Whole fat, grass-fed greek yogurt with berries and nuts

• Grass-fed cottage cheese with berries and nuts

• 1-2 eggs with shredded cheese and sautéed vegetables (tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, etc)

• Vegetable and fruit smoothies with protein powder and milk/plant-based milk

• Avocado toast (whole wheat bread) with a fried egg

• Black bean homemade breakfast wrap with whole wheat tortilla, sautéed veggies, and cheese if desired (or avocado)

• Leftover chicken and vegetable soup! (I know this sounds weird, but it's really nice in the winter)

Lunch

As a high school teacher, I honestly see so many teens eating pizza, poutine, muffins and cookies all day. Some of them come to class with a bag of chips and a pop and that is their lunch. It's quite frightening, and these are often the students who struggle to focus, might procrastinate, and are generally challenged by being at school. There are many reasons for students to struggle, of course, but nutrition is a low hanging fruit that does make a difference regardless of a child's developmental diagnosis. While you cannot control what your child or teen eats when they are out of the house, you can provide healthy options, making it easier for them to make better nutrition choices in the morning as they prepare for their day. Here are a few examples of foods you can keep on hand for them:

Lunch Ideas

• Leftovers from dinner the night before - package these up in containers so they are ready to grab

• Leftover rotisserie chicken sandwiches with raw vegetables and guacamole or other homemade, fatty dip (tzaziki, etc)

• Heat a pot of homemade soup in the morning that can be put into thermos-type containers; keep seedy crackers in the pantry

• Prepared salads, or ingredients to make quick salads like fresh spinach and greens, olives, cherry tomatoes, avocados, cheese, pumpkin seeds, etc. Teach them how to make a filling salad or do this with them the night before

• Fresh fruits and vegetables that are easy to grab like bananas, apples, pears, pre-cut carrots and celery sticks, mini-cucumbers, etc.

Snacks

These can also be tough for parents to figure out. I don't recommend depriving your child of sweets or treats; in fact, I think balance is the most effective way at having your kids buy in. There are certain choices that are better than others, however, and you can figure out what treats your kids really love and go from there. Here are some examples of snacks and treats that can be included amongst a beautiful nutritious lunch to balance.

• raw vegetables with hummus, guac, etc

• homemade trail mix or baked granola (lots of recipes are online)

• whole wheat tortillas with almond/peanut butter and sliced bananas

• greek yogurt containers

• roasted nuts and seeds

• fruit! Bananas, apples, pears, berries, etc.

Sunday Meal Prep

To help make your weeks easier, consider doing the following once or twice a week, so everyone in the household has easy access to nutritious foods in the fridge and pantry:

• cut up raw vegetables like carrots, celery and cucumber and put them in glass containers

• make a healthy homemade dip like hummus

• keep frozen fruits and vegetables in the freezer for smoothies

• make a homemade granola or trailmix for snacks

• prep a few portions of salads that people can grab and personalize

• make a large roasted vegetable tray for leftovers

• make a batch of hard-boiled eggs

• make a batch of vegetable soup or stew (with a protein like quinoa, chicken, etc) for easy, quickly re-heatable lunches

Sample Meal Plan

Breakfast: greek yogurt, strawberries, and almonds with a drizzle of honey

Lunch: chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread, hummus and raw vegetables

Snacks: banana, homemade chocolate chip cookies

Okay, but how do I make them buy in?

Sometimes, we need to do a lot of work to encourage children and teens to choose nutritious choices.

#1: Be the Example

This is the most effective way at teaching your child to eat well and to want to take care of themselves. If they see you rushing out the door without having eaten breakfast, with a giant mug of coffee, this is the example that they think is normal. If they see you living off of processed food all day working from home, this is what they will expect for themselves as well. If you set the example you'd like to see, I guarantee you will have more success in getting them to buy in.

#2: Make this a family event

Preparing breakfasts, packing lunches, and making dinners should be a family event and not just for one parent/guardian. Involve and engage your child in the process by having them chop veggies (if old enough), storing food away, and even helping to choose the menu. Teach them about what makes a meal complete (i.e. protein, fat, and fibre) and challenge them to create meal ideas for the whole family.

#3: For teens - use vanity!

This will work especially well on teenage girls. Healthy food feeds good gut bacteria, provides beautiful nutrients for the whole body like hair, skin, and nails, helps with energy, sleep, menstrual cycles, and honestly - the list goes on. Teenagers especially might need to see the difference to understand why processed food is not their friend. Challenge them with a 30-day elimination diet where they eat only whole foods such as the ones listed above (or at least no junk food from the cafeteria!) and see how they feel. Their skin will start to clear up, their nails will grow more quickly, they'll sleep better and their menstrual cycles will improve. Seeing the difference is really key for teenagers to buy in. If your child is an athlete, this is another angle that can be taken.

#4: Don't deprive them

As I mentioned above, I do believe the key here is balance. Obviously there are situations where strict elimination of certain foods needs to happen for health reasons, even if just temporary. But a healthy diet is a well-balanced diet, and treats are included in this. There are "better" choices here, but I honestly feel that if your child is eating three extremely well-balanced, nutritious meals per day, and has no specific health conditions that prohibit them from doing so, they should be able to tolerate a little sugar. Sugar is not a health-giving food, of course, but quality of life does matter! You can prepare treats with them at home like zucchini muffins, whole wheat banana bread, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, etc.

Conclusion

Although it might feel overwhelming, the key to success here is starting small. For example, make your goal to provide some healthier snack options in the home and go from there. Over time, the whole family will buy in, because people generally do notice when they feel better in mind and body. Reach out to me if you'd like some more specific guidance on working with your teen or family!

jennycostellocoach@gmail.com