School is in Session

As summer vacation winds down and back to school shopping ramps up, now is the perfect time to start planning your child’s healthful lunches and school snacks. The key to appeasing your child’s taste buds and meeting his nutrient needs is familiarity. Tossing a salad and apple in his lunch won’t be a success if these are new foods! When working with parents I give them the task of normalizing real food, i.e. fruits, veggies, and lean proteins. When parents first meet with me, they are usually packing lunches full of processed lunch replacements, cookies, and other pre-packaged foods. Although these foods are okay once in a while, they are not the foundation of a healthful or academic-enhancing diet; lunches high in refined carbohydrates and low in fiber, protein, or healthful fats may lead to fatigue and loss of concentration. Continue reading

Fall for Pears!

Fall is here, which means school is back in session! I remember school lunch when I was in elementary school, and have especially fond memories of my mom packing lunch for me. When I brought lunch I would usually have a sandwich, milk, a piece of fruit, and a treat, such as two small cookies. Although school lunch is being overhauled this year to increase fruits and vegetables and decrease unhealthful fats and sodium, what happened to simple brown bag lunches? Lunch was always my favorite part of the school day! I looked forward to lunch, to eating with good friends and having a break to refresh and recharge. I think we should focus on getting back to basics at lunch. Instead of snack foods packed with refined grains and sugar, pick a fruit that will help your child stay Continue reading