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