Top 8: Lunchbox treats
It may take minutes to put together a lunchbox for school, but what you put into it will fuel your child for hours. And, to keep energy levels even, it’s important to keep sugar content to the minimum.
Once sandwiches, salads, flasks of water are sorted, fruit is good for small breaks. For end-of-week treats, it’s best to make your own, ideally with help from the kids.
“Look for high protein and fibre, lower sugar and less additives,” says consultant dietician and author Paula Mee.
She favours complex carbs that are found in oats.
“Oats are great and very healthful, but shop-bought bars can have lots of hidden forms of sugar.
"Watch labels for table sugar, golden syrup, molasses/treacle, agave syrup, rice malt syrup, coconut blossom syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, honey.
“It doesn’t mean you should never eat these foods, but be aware they are added for sweetness.
"Instead eat natural sugars such as the lactose found in milk or yoghurt, the sugar naturally present in fruit, including dried, canned and stewed, in vegetables like carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas.”
Dentists recommend swishing and swallowing water after all snacks.
Sugar replacement chemical additives give children a taste for oversweet foods and research is ongoing about their negative effect on the gut.
