Tasty tips for lunch boxes

For children, having a shiny new lunch box can be one of the best things about starting the new school year.

But for the parents packing lunch boxes, knowing what to include can be a bit of a minefield.

We wanted to get a clear idea of how to pack a healthy lunch box so we spoke to the experts to ask their advice.

First off, Tesco nutritionist Laura Coyle explained how lunch boxes are a great way to make sure children are getting a balanced diet. So include:

• Some starchy carbohydrates, such as bread, wraps, pittas, pasta or potatoes (where possible choose wholemeal options)

• Some protein, such as meat, fish, eggs or beans

• Some dairy, such as cheese

• And some vegetables and fruits

But beyond this, as a parent you’re not going to be there to supervise whether a child eats all their veggies, or whether they’re trading them for something naughty.

Laura’s advice is to take the fuss out of healthy food and make it visually appealing and convenient. She suggests cutting up colourful peppers or other fruit and veg into easy-to-grab slices for little hands.

In addition, she added: “Lots of colour and variety means that you’re giving your child a good range of nutrients, with the added bonus that lunchtimes don’t become mundane.”

Morning playtime is another opportunity to boost the amount of fruit in your child’s diet, and Laura’s top tips are grapes and strawberries.

But fellow nutritionist Liana Bonadio offered a word of caution about dried fruit, such as raisins and dried fruit bars. She stressed that it’s important to only eat these at mealtimes and not as a snack. They are high in sugar and very sticky, so without other food to ‘flush’ them out of your teeth they can cause tooth decay.

Liana told us: “Dried fruit and dried fruit snack bars are very high in sugar and low in fibre, so while they’re fine for a mealtime treat once in a while, we’d always recommend choosing a piece of fresh fruit instead.”

And finally, a tip from our Twitter community (and the word on the playground): sugar snap peas are a resounding hit!

We’d love to hear your lunch box tips – tweet us