Well, September is here and our children have already been in school for a couple of weeks. They’ve done plenty of homework, and we are hearing about all the upcoming events, projects and opportunities for our children to get involved, learn and grow.
Healthy food options at school have become much more mainstream both in our minds and on our children’s plates. I dare say that the school lunch is also an opportunity for our children to get involved, learn and grow.
Even with the healthier options, there are a few RULES that we can put into place that will ensure that most of the time our children are choosing healthy options and getting the nutrients they need to perform throughout the day…mind and body.
1. Choose the healthiest entrée possible. Many of the school lunch options are fairly healthy, and can be part of an overall healthy plan for the day. (However, our child may need to bring a lunch on a given day that the entrée is not what we feel is the healthiest.)
2. Always choose one veggie and one fruit option at lunch.
3. Drink water throughout the day, including at lunch.
4. Dessert is a treat and not part of our nutritional total.
When we follow these rules for our family, and ourselves we place the emphasis on nutrition and our children learn valuable lessons on how to fuel their body and their brain.
The greatest gift we can give our children is to set them up for success, and this means both educationally and nutritionally.
Have a wonderful school year! These years fly by in the blink of an eye, but the good foundation we teach our children lasts a lifetime.
