Need ideas for healthy lunch to take to school for 10 yr old niece...

[BC]

My great niece is the sweetest 10 yr old you could meet. She is very smart and takes dance 4 days a week, therefore, she is very active. However, she is overweight. Her mother knows she needs to cut out the fast food and high calorie lunches she had been taking to school. She is looking for ideas to pack in her lunch that a 10 yr old would want to eat. There is no way for her to heat anything at school so it limits her from taking soups and such. She has been taking lunches such as fruit, cucumbers and sandwiches. The same old thing is getting old, so we need some creative ideas for a yummy lunch that is healthy. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[MrsSpratt]

My great niece is the sweetest 10 yr old you could meet. She is very smart and takes dance 4 days a week, therefore, she is very active. However, she is overweight. Her mother knows she needs to cut out the fast food and high calorie lunches she had been taking to school. She is looking for ideas to pack in her lunch that a 10 yr old would want to eat. There is no way for her to heat anything at school so it limits her from taking soups and such. She has been taking lunches such as fruit, cucumbers and sandwiches. The same old thing is getting old, so we need some creative ideas for a yummy lunch that is healthy. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

You need a thermos. Fill it with almost boiling water (and then dump it out) before you put in the piping hot soup - it will stay warm. And protein protein protein. Steamed chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, a few nuts...she needs it!

 

[cheerful chickadee]

how about instead of a sandwich sending her with a wrap? I use light flour tortillas, 5/6 slices of deli select turkey, tomato, lettuce and 1tbsp light ranch dressing, they're pretty tasty. She could take a bag of baked lay's to have with it or pretzel sticks. What about cereal? Put it in a bowl with a lid and she can buy a pint of milk at school. Special K cereal with strawberries is only 120 cals, 0 fat and the serving size is 1 cup which is filling. There's always salad with a little grilled chicken and 2tbsp of light/low fat dressing. Quaker makes chewy granola bars that have 25% less sugar in them so they're lower in fat/cals. Dannon light & Fit yogurt cups or applesauce cups. Sometimes for lunch I just snack and have some baby carrot sticks dipped in light ranch dressing (which comes in to-go containers) and I'll have a few crackers with some reduced fat peanut butter on them for protein. I usually have a peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar for dessert.

I think sometimes when people start watching what they eat they initially think all you can eat is fruits and veggies, you can eat a lot of other things that are actually good!

 

[BC]

She does already take the Baked Lays chips and the granola bars. The cereal idea sounds good. She has about 3 hrs before she has lunch so do you think the chicken would be OK unrefrigerated that long?

 

[minkydog]

DD takes a baggie of cereal and some cut up fruit. She can buy milk at school. She has also taken salad with cheese and olives, and her own little bottle of salad dressing. When she ate meat she often packed a small container of chopped meat, plus cheese & fresh fruit, and some nuts. You can change up this combo just about every day and have something different.

Oh, and I second the thermos idea. DD takes warmed up beans in hers. If you pre-heat the thermos with boiling water for about5 minutes and make sure the food is HOT when you put it in, it will stay nice and warm until lunch.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

At walmart you can get this chill-thing. It is a little tupper-ware thing but you can put it in the freezer overnight and in the morning put the sandwhich in it and it keeps it cold! I use it for school. Also, yes, a thermos. It's amazing.


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stay-Fit-5-Pack-Food-Storage-Set/11072497

That is what I use.

 

[momof5boys]

I know of a company that has a childrens line of high protein, low sugar products. I just ordered a pack of all the products, because I wanted to try them all. Up until now I have had the brownie bar, cookie bar and twists(instead of chips) they are all really good. I don't think I can promote it on here so you can pm me for info if you'd like. We are very excited about it! PS they sneak veggies and vitamins(even omega 3) into them!

 

[turkeymama]

Ideas from my 9 year old who takes her lunch everyday due to allergies.

Turkey chili with crackers or even a few corn chips
Tuna salad (with or without the bread)
Beans and rice
Chicken and pasta in marinara sauce
Wraps (turkey is her favorite)

She takes chips, but I don't put very many in there. We buy Pringles, so I put a few in a sandwich bag (I never put a whole serving in there). Sometimes she takes pretzels/pretzel sticks.

Also, she does take a sweet snack everyday, but I usually send something homemade so I can at least curb the calorie content.

 

[meliss8599]

I know I found a lot of good lunch ideas when this thread was popular.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1951020

 

[AustinTink]

My DS10 doesn't like the traditional lunch foods... sandwiches, soup, etc. So, I pack him a yogurt, banana and one other piece of fruit. And, that's the base of his lunch everyday. I switch out the side. But, most of the time it's a homemade muffin or piece of pumpkin or banana bread. Then, I also send a baggie of cereal... cornflakes or cheerios. It's a lot of food, but it's healthy food.

 

[monkeybug]

This is probably strange, but my daughter takes sushi in her lunch sometimes. Just the California roll type you get from trader joes, nothing raw or anything. I just add one of those ice pack things and it stays cool.
Hummus and some pita are healthy and filling.
Almonds, dried fruit, jello, sugar free pudding cups, cheese slices and whole wheat crackers, mini fruit kabobs (food is more fun on a stick), cookies made with a white/wheat flour mixture and sweetened with sugar/applesauce.
Martha Stewart makes a great Kids magazine (or used to) and has some great kids lunch ideas (at least in the issue my mom gave me) Maybe check out her website or google "fun lunch ideas" and lots of healthy non boring stuff is sure to pop up.
Good luck and kudos to her mom for trying to get her a healthy diet. 10 is still young, I'm sure once you cut out all the fast food and over processed stuff you won't have to restrict her diet too much to get her to a healthy weight.

 

[aprilgail2]

My DS10 doesn't like the traditional lunch foods... sandwiches, soup, etc. So, I pack him a yogurt, banana and one other piece of fruit. And, that's the base of his lunch everyday. .

That is my daughter too- for lunch she takes an apple and cantaloupe or an apple and a banana as her "lunch" then she has either a brownie, chips, pretzels, pudding...some type of "dessert". She will not eat any kind of bread and won't eat meat or cheese so cold cut sandwiches are out. She will eat peanut butter so a few days a week I will give her the mini containers of peanut butter to dup her apples in- or just a jar of peanut butter and a spoon! Peanut butter is a life saver for her protein wise!

 

[BC]

Thank you all so much! Keep the ideas coming! I am gladly passing your suggestions on to her Mom.

 

[MomofKatie]

DD likes hummus- Sabra makes individual serving sized containers of it that are perfect for packing in her lunchbox. I get them in a 12 pack at BJs warehouse club. I pack a few pita chips with it, along with a piece of fruit and something sweet- usually a few cookies or some fruit snacks.

I second the hot food idea- as long as you have a wide mouth Thermos, hot foods will stay warm for lunch. DD likes to bring leftover Thai or pasta, and it always stays warm in her Thermos.

 

[KirstenB]

She does already take the Baked Lays chips and the granola bars. The cereal idea sounds good. She has about 3 hrs before she has lunch so do you think the chicken would be OK unrefrigerated that long?

I love the pp's ideas. As far as keeping the food chillled, all you have to do is look for the packs you can freeze. At Walmart, they're either next to the lunchboxes, or I've found them in the camping section. Each of my dd's has her own: A soccer ball, and a ladybug--little circle shaped things that you freeze every night when they get home from school, then throw in the lunchbox in the morning.

 

[pigletgirl]

Well first of all, alot of girls in the 4th grade become chubby! Its something that happens, for preparing for puberty.

Natural PB is great! It also won't spoil either. I hated taking turkey sammys to school knowing, even with an ice pack that it may become mealy...yuck!

Also, cut out any sugary drinks. Juice, soda, ect. Milk and water only!

 

[NHdisneylover]

A few things:

First, the PP is correct that many girls around this age become chubby. They do vthis before they shoot up (and get curves) as part of puberty. There may be an overreaction going on--please do not make the girl feel badly about her body. Perhaps, out of the girl's hearing, mom should ask the pediatrician on their next visit if this is normal or really a problem.

That said, eating healthy (not with the intention to loose weight) is always a good idea.

I notice yo usaid she takes baekd chips. While better than regular chips a whole pacakge of these is still a lot of empty calories. I would not be sending things like that every day, or if she really wants the crunch and salt just send 4-5 chips in baggie. As a general rule of thumb avoiding anything (other than yogurt) that comes in individual packages is a good place to start (this would include most granola bars which have a lot of calories and sugar and often fat without a whole lot of nutrition). Also watch what goes in as a drink. I would suggest only water (no juice boxes, etc.).

I think it helps a lot to think beyond just a sandwhich as an entree (as others have pointed out). Also think beyond jsut lunch meet for fillers for wraps. Neither of my children will eat school lunches so I pack 2 lunches a day, here are some typical things:

Entrees
Wraps made with:
*lunchmeat and/or cheese and veggies
*light cream cheese, diced fruit and cinnamon
*peanutbutter, diced apples or bananas (and sometimes a few minicholoate chips with the bananas), sprinkled with homemade granola
*hummus and veggies

Pita pockets filled with:
*cheese and veggies
*tuna or chicken salad (make with plain yogurt instead of mayo)
*salad (pack a light dressing in a container to add at lunch time

Fruit and cheese kabobs
salad with cold chicken breast strips
boiled egg with whole grain crackers
cold pasta salad
bagel with cream cheese (light) or peanut butter
nutella or peanutbutter in a container with sliced fruit to dip in
container full of mixed nuts and cheerios

For sides I always include a piece of fruit. I often include yogurt, and usually some other grain (a small baggie of pretzles, dry cereal, muffin, etc.)

I do like to include a small dessert (I do not like things to be too off limits). By small I mean ONE small tootsie roll, one andes mint, one mini peanutbutter cup, etc.

 

[dizneemom]

My daughter is 9-almost 10 and is chubby also. We went to a dietician because we were concerned and she said to limit breads, cereals, things like that. Limit the amount of servings of that to 3 per day. My daughter loves boiled eggs and eats them for an after school snack. As for lunch I let her eat at school. They limit the portions and police the exchanging of food so I feel confident that she is limited to only her tray.
Celery W/peanut butter, carrots dipped in light ranch, 1 fruit roll up for a treat, light string cheese are all things she likes. My daughter is starting to go through puberty so I don't know if this has anything to do w/ it. Also, my daughter doesn't sleep well. She snores and has night terrors. We are scheduled for her to get her tonsils out and the Ear Nose and Throat dr said sometimes inadaquate sleep can make kids heavier.
Anyway, I really am a firm believer not to put too much pressure on my dd about her weight. I was pressured as a child and it was terrible to say the least. I just want her healthy. That is my goal. Good luck and I just wanted you to know I am dealing w/the same thing.

 

[BC]

Thanks so much. She actually almost always drinks water and occasionally an iced tea. This is not anything new as she has been a bit overweight for a while now. She is well aware of it and I hate that part of it. Her father is one that works out all the time and makes comments about her needing to get "healthy", but I know she knows what he really means. The emotional side of it all is as bad or worse than the physical. I was watching Dr Oz today and he said children that are obese are way more likely to be that way as adults also and that makes me sad.

 

[portocall]

I work at a school and frequently do lunch duty with 2nd graders. I always make a point of making a big deal when they bring a healthy lunch and eat it so I have noticed a lot more healthier lunches as the year has gone on.

I see 7 and 8 year olds eating the following

1. Salads
2. Sushi
3. diced baked chicken chuncks with no sauce
4. yogurt
5. cheese cubes (instead of chips)
6. whole fruit
7. water, most of our lunch kitters only bring water instead of juice.
8. tuna fish
9. veggie pizza (the kind made at home, with whole wheat crusts)
10. soup, still piping hot out of a thermos at 11:00

Since the price of bread shot through the roof I noticed that bread and sandwiches are frequently missing, and the portion sizes are quite appropriate (small). There has been an upshoot in these little plastic (bento?) boxes that they put their whole lunch in and they seem satisfied until snack time.