Lunch Box

As we know, lunch box very important for our children now. With bring some food in lunch box, our children will provided what they eat. Or, to keep healtier of food they consumtion.

The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit. The essential idea of a food container has been around for a very long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of lithographed images on metal, that the containers became a staple of western youth, and in turn, a marketable product in the eyes of manufacturers.

The lunch box has historically most often been used by schoolchildren to carry a prepared meal to school. The most common modern form is a small case with a clasp and handle, often printed with a colorful image that can either be generic or based on children's television shows or films. Use of lithographed metal to produce lunch boxes in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s gave way in the 1990s to use of injection-molded plastic.

Lunch kits are comprised of the actual "box" and a matching vacuum bottle. However, pop culture has more often embraced the singular term lunch box, which is now most commonly used. Today, lunch box collecting is a serious business. Many lunch boxes, including those from the 1950s and 1960s sell for hundreds of dollars, some even into the thousands of dollars.

Health concerns came to light in August 2005, when the Center for Environmental Health discovered that many popular vinyl lunch boxes contained dangerously high levels of lead. Many, though not all, were pulled from the shelves. In 2006, most major manufacturers began testing their lunch boxes for lead levels, remedied the issue, and labeled their boxes as lead free.

Healthy Lunchbox Tips

Lunch often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of getting kids off to school in the morning. You may prefer to give your child money for lunch rather than pack a midday meal. But it's worth reconsidering bag lunches because they often far healthier than standard cafeteria fare.

To make sure your child actually eats the healthy lunches you provide, try this advice

Make the Grade With Lunch

The most nutritious lunches include foods from at least three food groups, but that doesn't mean children must have the traditional sandwich, fruit, and milk for good health. As long as youngsters eat a balanced and varied meal, it's perfectly fine to pack hummus, whole-grain crackers, and yogurt or leftovers from last night's dinner every day, as well as sandwiches.

The key is to respect your child's eating style and preferences. Some kids derive comfort from eating the same foods day in and day out while others balk at it. Work with your child, and your child is less likely to drop lunch in the playground trash bin.

Get Kids Involved

Allowing children to choose and prepare their own lunch piques interest in the meal and makes it more likely kids will eat their own creations. Let your young child help make lunch the night before school for greater ease in the morning. You can help guide your children to the proper portions and healthy choices of whole grains, protein, and produce. Keep in mind, most elementary school-aged children are allowed a midmorning snack. Account for that when considering the amount of food you provide for lunch.

Make sure you have healthy fare on hand for your child to choose:

Whole-grain breads or crackers

Peanut and almond butters

Light canned tuna fish

Raw vegetables that can be cut into slices

Fruits

Encourage the kids to make sandwiches with whole-grain breads or bagels; tortillas; or colorful wraps. Try different sandwich fillings, such as tabouli mixed with feta cheese in a pita pocket, or a veggie burger.

For even greater buy-in, try these simple steps:

• Let your children pick out their own lunchbox.

• Consider insulated lunch bags with room for a small freezer pack that allows you to send foods that must be kept cold, such as dip for fresh vegetables, yogurt, and orange juice.

• Or use larger lunch bags to avoid squishing foods.

• Have on hand small sturdy plastic containers for cut fruit, vegetables, dip, and lunch foods other than sandwiches.

• Practical Lunch Tips

Make It a Snap

Children may have as little as 20 minutes to make it to the cafeteria, find their seats, eat, and clean up after themselves, so ease is the name of the game. At some schools, kids eat on the playground, distracted by playing games.

So user-friendly foods are a must for lunch, especially for younger children who easily dismiss hard-to-eat foods that take time to get ready to eat. For example, older kids may be capable of peeling oranges and eggs in a flash, but younger ones are not. Sending a thermos? Make sure your child knows how to use it. Children with braces or other orthodontic devices often do better with foods like applesauce rather than whole apples, and prefer crackers or bread to bagels and bulky rolls, which are difficult to bite.

What's to Drink?

Milk and fortified 100% fruit juice are the best drinks for children at lunch, in that order. Up until age 9, kids need three 8-ounce glasses of milk every day, or an equivalent such as three cuts of yogurt. By their 9th birthday, they require four servings a day. Milk is one of the easiest ways for kids to meet their need for dairy foods. Encourage milk at school by providing milk money or packing containers of milk in the lunchbox. To make it a treat, offer low-fat chocolate milk. If you child refuses to drink milk at school, opt for 100% fruit juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D.

Don't Forget Fun

Every kid clamors for junk food, and an outright ban rarely works. So offer healthier alternatives. Pack these fun foods for a healthy treat:

Baked potato chips

Homemade toasted pita bread chips

Pretzels

Trail mix or raisins

Whole-grain cereal

Nuts or soy nuts

A smattering of chocolate chips

Sunflower seeds

Graham crackers

Fig bars

School Lunch Box Tips

Lunch box tricks to make your child the envy of the lunchroom or will at least make for a good swap. The following quick lunch box tricks are easy enough for your child to help produce; are delicious, tasty and fun; and, best of all, will make they the envy of the lunchroom. Or, at least, make for a darn good swap.

• Make some delicious (and easy) hummus and pack it in a plastic container. Cut a pita up into wedges for dipping along with some carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper - whatever your child likes. Send along a few potato or tortilla chips - just to make it seem like party food.

• Spread a tortilla with cream cheese, sprinkle with chopped raw vegetables, and roll up. Cut into 1-inch (2 cm) slices and pack in a plastic container. Or do the same thing with peanut butter and banana or jam.

• Cut a pita bread in half, and pack it in a plastic bag. Send along assorted things to stuff in the pocket like shredded lettuce, tuna salad, alfalfa sprouts, canned chick peas, grated cheese, chopped hard-boiled egg, and a little container of salad dressing to drizzle on top.

• Cut up some cheese and meat (chicken, ham, smoked sausage, whatever) into cubes and pack in a multi-sectioned plastic container. Use some fancy toothpicks or pretzel sticks to spear the cubes. Or send along a few crackers.

• Make some delicious devilled eggs! Cut hard boiled eggs in half, remove the yolks and mash with a little mayonnaise and some chopped celery or green onion, and re-stuff the shells. Pack in a paper towel-lined plastic container (for padding and to absorb any sogginess).

• Everyone loves pasta salad. Pack the dressing in a separate container to add at lunchtime.

• Contrary to popular myth, cold pizza is not disgusting. Wrap a slice or two in plastic for lunch. Or, make a bagel pizza. Cut a bagel in half, spread with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with shredded cheese and pepperoni. Bake until the cheese is melted, then let cool completely and wrap in plastic.

• Spoon some plain or vanilla yogurt, or some cottage cheese into a wide-mouth thermos. Send along small containers of assorted toppings - granola, chopped fruit, jam, nuts, raisins - to sprinkle into it.

• Make a mini-submarine sandwich out of a hot dog bun, some sliced meats and cheeses and shredded lettuce (hot peppers? olives?). If you really want to go all the way, pack a small container of salad dressing to pour over the fillings at lunchtime.

• Grill an extra chicken breast while you’re using the barbecue. Chill it, then cut the meat into strips. Pack some containers of dipping sauce (sweet and sour, honey mustard, barbecue) to go with it. Or, if you have some leftover turkey, cut it into cubes and pack it in a plastic container. Send along a container of cranberry sauce to dip into.

• Make some salami roll-ups. Spread thin slices of salami with mustard or cheese, lay a pickle spear on top, and roll up. Pack into a plastic container.

• How about fruit kebabs? Cut melon, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries (or whatever is in season) into big chunks and spear them on short bamboo skewers with the sharp ends snapped off for safety. Add hunks of cheese, if you child likes it. Pack a bagel and cream cheese, or some banana bread to go with it.

• Spread a tortilla with refried beans, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Fold in the sides, roll up, and wrap in plastic. Send along a container of shredded lettuce, and some salsa. Or make a chicken taco instead. Spread some salsa on the tortilla, top with shredded, cooked chicken, and shredded lettuce. Fold up and wrap.

• Sprinkle shredded cheese on a tortilla, top with another tortilla and cook on an ungreased griddle until the cheese is melted and it’s lightly toasted on each side. Let cool, then cut into wedges like a pizza. Pack some salsa for dipping.

• Make some mini-quiches using frozen tart shells or your own homemade pastry. Pack a couple in the lunch box - they’re good cold, you know.

• Make a banana bread sandwich. Spread homemade banana bread with peanut butter or cream cheese, cut into long fingers, and pack in a plastic container.

• Cook up a batch of tuna dippers and pack them in the lunch box with some barbecue or sweet and sour sauce.

• Pack some homemade bean salad in a plastic container. Add a muffin or a buttered roll to go with it.

• You’ve heard of ants on a log - what about ants in a log? Stuff celery along the crease with peanut butter or cream cheese. Insert the ants (raisins, by the way) into the stuffing, and then squish another peanut butter or cheese stuffed celery on top - trapping the ants inside. Wrap tightly in plastic.

• Fill a green pepper shell with some tuna, chicken, or pasta salad. Wrap in plastic. Or pack that tuna (or whatever) salad into a container, and send along an ice cream cone to spoon it into at lunchtime. Really. Why not?

Tips for reducing salt, fat and sugar

Reducing salt

Always check food labels for the salt or sodium content. If sodium is listed and you want to covert this to salt, you multiply the sodium figure by 2.5.

A product high in salt is one that has anything above 1.25g of salt per 100g or 0.5g of sodium per 100g. A product low in salt is one that has 0.25g or less of salt per 100g or 0.1g or less of sodium.

Cut down on salty snacks, such as crisps and nuts, and heavily salted foods such as ready meals, bacon, cheese, and smoked fish.

If you make your own foods (pasta, quiche, and bread) for your child's lunchbox cut down on the salt or do not add any.

Buy low salt options wherever possible and if you are unsure whether something is high in salt, maybe put in some fruit or chopped veg instead.

When making sandwiches, go easy with sauces and pickles because these are usually very high in salt.

Reducing fat

Always check the food label for fat content. As a guide, 20g or more of fat per 100g is a lot; 3g or less per 100g is considered low in fat. In terms of saturated fat, 5g or more per 100g is considered a lot and 1g or less per 100g is considered low in saturated fat.

Use butter, margarine, mayonnaise or salad dressings sparingly.

Try to eat crisps sparingly and buy low fat crisps where possible.

Use high fat cheese or cheese spreads sparingly.

Cut down on cakes, chocolate biscuits, chocolate and confectionery.

Limit eating meat pies, pasties, fried foods and salami.

Avoid fatty cuts of meat or chicken with skin.

Reducing sugar

Always read the label of any food you are buying for your child's lunchbox, whether snacks and biscuits or cakes (or dressings on ready-made salads).

A product with a lot of sugar is one that has 10g or more of sugar per 100g. A product low in sugar contains 2g or less per 100g.

Always check the ingredient list on food labels. Watch out for other words used to describe sugar such as sucrose, glucose (syrup), fructose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar. The higher up the ingredients list they come, the higher in sugar the foods are.

Avoid drinks that are very high in sugar, such as fizzy drinks or juice drinks. Instead, choose unsweetened fruit juice, water, milk, smoothies or yoghurt drinks.

Replace cakes, biscuits and chocolate bars with scones, currant buns and fruit bread.

Instead of sweets and chocolate, give your child fresh or dried fruit to snack on. Alternatively, you could try sunflower and pumpkin seeds or chopped up vegetables, cherry tomatoes or peppers.

If your child insists on having sweets or chocolate, try to limit this to one day a week and never reward children with sweets.

If you bake at home for your child's lunchbox, cut down on the sugar that you add. Try adding fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apricots or fruit purées.