Find out how to put together healthy lunch boxes for children – 09/27/2023 – Equilíbrio

In the rush of everyday life, it may seem impossible to give up options such as snacks, cookies, chocolate drinks and soft drinks when putting together the lunch that children take to school. Rich in sugar, salt, fats and chemical additives, ultra-processed products tend to be attractive to children, in addition to being considered practical and convenient by adults.

However, it is necessary to pay attention to the foods that make up the lunch box: there is increasing evidence that links the consumption of ultra-processed foods to a series of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, cognitive decline and even depression.

Daniel Becker, pediatrician and public health doctor, highlights yet another consequence for children: the development of a selective or “enslaved” palate, when there is a loss of interest in natural food amid a vicious cycle of consumption of ultra-processed foods.

“These products have very well designed food engineering, which manages to create very attractive textures that bypass the human satiety system. They act directly on the brain, by releasing dopamine, which gives a sensation of pleasure”, he explains.

“It is at this stage that you are educating children to have eating habits. Children who are more exposed to ultra-processed foods, therefore, end up preferring a snack or a stuffed biscuit instead of eating at home”, ponders endocrinologist Fabio Trujilho, deputy -president of Abeso (Brazilian Association for the Study of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome) and director of the obesity department at Sbem (Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabology).

In general, a healthy diet and lunch box are based on fruits and vegetables, foods based on grains and cereals, and foods that are sources of protein, whether of vegetable origin (such as lentils, chickpeas or tofu) or animal origin (such as meat, dairy and eggs). For example, very fatty foods and refined sugar foods should be avoided. Hydration should be based on water, trying to avoid the consumption of sugary drinks, such as juices or soft drinks, as much as possible.

Some strategies can help you put together an attractive lunch box, with different options for each school day.

Lara Folster, ambassador in Brazil for the Food Revolution project, by chef Jamie Oliver, and founder of Lanche&Co, a company that takes real food to schools, highlights the importance of organization in this process.

Folster suggests setting aside one day a week to do basic food preparation, which could involve roasting a sweet potato, making homemade bread, cooking corn or even cutting carrots and cucumbers into sticks.

If you prefer options that can be refrigerated or frozen, simply remove the food from the refrigerator or freezer shortly before assembling the lunch box. For children who do not have allergies or food intolerances, it is also possible to include cheese and nuts.

“The organization takes the burden off the rush. But, if there’s no way, you can send a fruit, like a banana, apple or grape. Or vegetables, like carrots and cucumber sticks”, she says.

“It’s worth remembering that it’s just a snack: we need to get rid of this kind of myth that children need to eat a lot in between meals. Important meals are breakfast, lunch and dinner. For snacks, water and fruit are enough , as long as they are offered in adequate portions”, he states.

Psychologist Lívia Ferreira, 39, says that she developed a kind of system to speed up the preparation of lunch boxes for Pedro, 6. Considering her son’s food preferences, she separated the foods into three groups: in the first, those that are more satiating, like homemade cake, tapioca and couscous; in the second, a fruit; in the third, some type of nut or cheese.

The table with options for groups A, B and C is stuck on the refrigerator door and serves as a guide for assembling lunch boxes. “Although it seemed laborious, after I did it and managed to understand the logic of the process, it became much smoother. Today, it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare my lunch box at night”, he explains.

In addition to trying to make quick and easy recipes, Ferreira takes advantage of the time in the kitchen to prepare a larger quantity of food, such as cakes and muffins, to freeze. To avoid ultra-processed snacks, she also uses options such as popcorn and tapioca biscuits.

In place of industrialized sweets, bananas or banana raisins are used. The son actively participates in the entire process, accompanying his mother when shopping, washing the fruit and assembling lunch boxes.

“He doesn’t complain about the food I send, he usually eats everything. When he talks about something he wants, what he usually asks for are things he already has the habit of eating: cheese bread, popcorn, a seaweed candy. These are demands for things that he is already used to eating at home”, he states.

For those who have a child at home who has already developed some type of food selectivity, Becker gives some tips. “It’s interesting to use creativity in the kitchen and, at the beginning of this adaptation, even use the same strategies that the industry uses. For example, making chips in the oven or in the air fryer, or breaded foods, such as cauliflower or broccoli . Make soufflés, tarts, options that make the food more attractive and tasty, including using salt, to ‘turn off’ the child”, he says.

But there is no point in the effort if, before that, adults do not have healthier eating habits in their own routine. “Healthy eating starts at home, with the example of parents. There’s no point in asking your child to eat healthily if you don’t eat yourself,” says Trujilho.

The ideal, experts say, is that the consumption of ultra-processed foods should be reduced as much as possible both in the lunch box and in other spaces and contexts frequented daily by children. In some municipalities in Brazil, the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods in canteens located inside schools is already prohibited by law — this is the case, for example, in Rio de Janeiro.

This does not, however, prevent the child from having contact with and eventually consuming this type of food on specific occasions, such as family gatherings or birthday parties. “We know that ultra-processed foods are ubiquitous and are made to be delicious, to give pleasure. Occasional consumption, like at a party, for example, is not a problem. The problem is everyday consumption”, says Becker.

For him, the way for the consumption of ultra-processed foods to be effectively reduced in all spaces frequented by children involves adopting measures that guarantee families’ access to healthy food, such as subsidizing natural foods, surcharging ultra-processed foods and implementing campaigns for the consumption of non-processed foods.

Folster further ponders: “Today, unfortunately, we have this discrepancy: the industry manages to greatly lower the price of unhealthy products. But, even if you have to resort to some type of industrialized product, you can balance it out by also sending some type of vegetable, be it a carrot, cucumber or beetroot, and offering water, which is cheaper than juice or soda. It’s this attentive look that makes the difference.”