Buzz
A child’s lunchbox serves multiple purposes: it must satisfy their hunger, be appealing enough to avoid being discarded, and provide sufficient nutrition to prevent any guilt over unhealthy choices.
We consulted Maryann Jacobsen, a registered dietitian specializing in children’s nutrition, to gather essential tips for packing a lunch that kids will love. Here’s her expert advice:
When preparing lunches, parents should balance nutrition, their child’s tastes, and the time available for eating. Aim to include a variety of food groups — such as protein, dairy or alternatives, grains, fruits, and vegetables — to ensure a well-rounded meal. Involving kids in the process, especially older children, can empower them to make choices and even prepare their own lunches occasionally. Regularly discussing lunch preferences with your child is also key. Ask if the portion size is adequate, if they enjoy the meals, and what improvements they’d suggest.
While this might seem challenging, achieving all these goals is entirely feasible with some thoughtful preparation. Let’s dive into the details.
Determine the Right Portion Size
As children grow, so should their lunch portions. It’s common to unintentionally pack similar-sized meals for siblings of different ages or to prepare a cute but insufficient lunch for a preschooler. Being mindful of portion sizes is crucial.
For a practical guide on appropriate meal sizes, refer to the American Academy of Pediatrics. They provide daily calorie and serving recommendations, so I’ve broken down roughly one-third of those numbers as a lunch estimate. Adjust based on your child’s eating habits, especially if they consume larger breakfasts or dinners:
Ages 2-3: 350 calories
Ages 4-8: 400-450 calories
Ages 9-13: 550-600 calories
Ages 14-18: 600-750 calories
Strive to ensure those calories come from nutritious sources: primarily vegetables, healthy fats, and protein-rich foods. A useful tip I picked up from (seriously) a zookeeper: to encourage eating everything rather than just favorites, serve slightly smaller portions—either less of the preferred items or a smaller meal overall. If your child consistently brings leftovers home, it’s a sign to tweak the portion sizes.
Ensure It’s Satisfying
Whatever you include in the lunchbox, it needs to sustain your child throughout the day. Avoid overloading on carbs, which can lead to a carb coma and hinder afternoon activities, whether it’s work meetings or math class. Focus on incorporating fats, proteins, and fiber, which digest slowly and keep hunger at bay, unlike sugars and starches that digest quickly and leave kids hungry sooner.
Avoid the misconception that low-fat options are always healthier. Children require about a third of their calories from fats (younger kids need even more—around 40% for toddlers). If the calorie count seems high, don’t eliminate fats; instead, keep whole milk and consider reducing sugars or starches.
It’s also wise to calculate the calorie content, especially when including fresh fruits and vegetables. While healthy, they aren’t calorie-dense. For example, an apple may occupy space in the lunchbox but won’t keep your child full. Pair it with energy-rich foods like peanut butter or sunflower butter for dipping to ensure they stay satisfied.
Ensure It’s Appealing
Your efforts will be futile if your child refuses to eat what you’ve prepared. Jacobsen suggests engaging kids in the process—ask younger ones for their input and teach older children to assemble their own meals: “This not only gives parents a break but also helps kids learn meal preparation skills.”
Making the food visually accessible when the lunchbox is opened is a smart strategy. Some lunch kits, like Bentology, are crafted to showcase as many items as possible. If you’re feeling creative, you can embrace the bento style with artistic arrangements or even use simple tricks like cutting sandwiches into fun shapes with a cookie cutter.
The goal is to maintain your child’s interest without relying on unhealthy snacks. A small treat is acceptable, but it should be a dessert, not the main focus of the meal. Transitioning away from sugary drinks like juice or soda can be challenging, but the start of a new school year is an ideal time to establish healthier habits.
For younger children, the right container can make a world of difference. My kids were easily convinced to swap juice and chocolate milk for water when they discovered they could drink it from a dinosaur-themed bottle.
Create a Reliable Checklist
Avoid losing sight of your plans during hectic moments—like early mornings or late nights when you’re packing lunches. A practical approach for both tired parents and kids learning to pack their own meals is to establish a system and a trusted checklist.
The system involves a few key categories: ensuring you include one item from each guarantees a balanced lunch.
Despite its limitations, MyPlate offers a useful guideline: aim for roughly equal portions of fruits, vegetables, protein, and grains, with dairy as an optional addition. Including every food group in every meal can be challenging, so simplifying the system is often helpful. For instance, combining fruits and vegetables into one category and treating dairy as a protein source (like cheese in a cheese-and-crackers meal) can streamline the process.
This leads us to a straightforward formula:
Fruit or vegetable
Protein
Beverage
Small treat
(and any additional items to complete the meal—grains, etc.)
Here’s the trusted checklist: ask your kids for input and create a list of packable foods they enjoy in each category. Display it somewhere visible and use it as a guide while shopping. As long as you have a few items from each category at home, packing lunches becomes effortless. Teach your kids this system, and they’ll be able to prepare their own meals.
Here’s an example of what a checklist might include:
Fruits: raisins, apple, banana, applesauce
Vegetables: carrots, broccoli
Grains: bread, crackers, rice
Protein/dairy: deli meat, peanut butter, cheese, yogurt
Drinks: milk or water
Dessert: fruit snacks
Dinner leftovers can fit into the system, but it’s best to exclude them from the checklist unless they’re a regular option. For instance, pizza can be categorized as grain + protein, while chili counts as protein + vegetable. Apple pie falls under fruit + dessert.
Ensure your checklist is diverse enough to avoid monotony. Jacobsen emphasizes the importance of teaching kids to enjoy a variety of foods: “A common mistake parents make is repeating the same meals daily. Encourage children by explaining that lunches won’t be identical two days in a row, and their input is key to adding variety. Collaborating with kids on meal preparation is the most effective way to ensure their success.”
Illustration by Tara Jacoby.
