What's in your child's lunchbox?

The Good Web Guide has caught up with Kids Do Travel, the online store for unique travel products for children, for some nutritional advice for making up your child's lunchbox. Here's what they had to say:

With the school year well underway, it's very easy to slip into a routine with our children's packed lunches offering them the same food everyday. If your children are already getting bored of eating the same thing, its time to look for some inspiration to spice up their lunches. A well-balanced diet is difficult to achieve on a limited number of foods but there are a good mix of healthy ideas to consider.

It is important to ensure that your children have a good dose of energy foods for their growth and activity. Always remember the packed lunch makes an important contribution to the days nutritional intake and gives them a healthy dose of brain power for the afternoon ahead.

The main food groups are:

Calcium - This mineral is so important for healthy bone development and is in food sources such as milk, yoghurt and cheeses, as well as green leafy vegetables, cereals, sesame seeds and even in fortified orange juice. Ideally your child should aim for three servings of a calcuim-rich food a day.
Folate - This vitamin is important for growth and is in, for example, fortified cereals, bread and green leafy vegetables.
Iron - This mineral helps to keep their red blood cells healthy and is, for example, in red meat and fortified breakfast cereals.
Fatty and sugary foods - Cooking oils, butter, cakes and crisps, for example, don't necessarily contain vitamins and minerals but are loaded with calories, fat and sugar.

Therefore, with this in mind, try some of these ideas when making up your child's packed lunch:

FILL THEM UP

Sandwiches and wraps - When preparing your child's packed lunch try to offer a variation. There are many types of bread that can add variety to sandwiches. You could try pitta bread, chapatties, bagels or crusty rolls. The choice is endless.

Fillings - There is a wonderful array of fillings to choose from. Why not make use of the meat from the night before; its wonderful cold the next day.
meats - sausage, chicken or beef salad, BLT, ham, philidelphia and tomato
fish- tuna mayo and sweetcorn.
veggie - cottage cheese and pineapple, egg salad, cheese and pickle, hummus, avocado, marmite and philidelphia, vegetarian pate with cucumber.

Salads such as pasta salad or potato salad are a great source of carbohydrate which will not only fill them up but give them energy. Another wonderful tummy-filler idea is quiche.

GOOD FOR HEALTHY GROWING BONES

Yoghurt, fromage frais or a dairy free alternative
cheese cubes
Dips such as tzatziki or hummus

LETS NOT FORGET OUR 5 A DAY

Fruit salad - freshly prepared with their favourite fruits.
Fruit jelly - again with their favourite fruits
Salad pot - a mix of tomato, cucumber, carrot, pepper, mangetout etc which is also rather nice dipped into either hummous or tzatziki
A small pot or bag of raisins, sultanas, apricots and seeds
Whole fruit - what is their favourite, satsumas, peaches, strawberries or plums?

THE SWEET SNACKS

If is often said that the less you have it the more you want it, which can definitely be said with the likes of chocolate and sweets - the secret is definitely everything in moderation. The occasional treat of crisps instead of rice cakes or biscuits instead of cheese crackers is of course fine from time to time.

KEY POINT TO REMEMBER

Once you have decided on what to give your child we can now think about how to keep their food fresh, especially in the summer months. There are a wonderful array of lunchbags and lunchboxes from soft to hard. Always ensure your child can open it and have a practice run at home first.
Small lidded food storage containers are ideal for storing your fruit salads, pasta salads and raisins for example but do again ensure that your child is able to open them.
Don't forget to put a spoon in for the yoghurts etc and a piece of kitchen towel to wipe those sticky fingers.