Food for Thought - A Blog Item Written by Dr. Ruben Rucoba
Food for Thought - A Blog Item Written by Dr. Ruben Rucoba
Food for Thought: Tips for Nutritious Eating During the School Year
August 25, 2014
By Ruben J. Rucoba, MD
The start of the school year brings lots of fun moments back into parents’ lives: hanging up art projects on the refrigerator, Friday night football games, and getting to know your children’s new friends. But it also brings back some not so great moments: having to pack school lunches, feeding your student-athlete something healthier than hotdogs and chips, and trying to keep your child from eating a dozen doughnuts at that new kid’s house.
Providing proper nutrition to your children is always a chore, but it gets a little harder during the school year, when the Super Taco Deluxe Pizza is on the menu in the school cafeteria and the ever-present vending machine tempts your youngster with its sweet and salty offerings. But you can do a few simple things to help your youngsters eat better this year.
The most important thing is to make sure your children eat a healthy breakfast. We all remember our mothers and grandmothers telling us, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Now there’s evidence to back them up. Multiple studies have shown that those who eat a good breakfast every day:
Are generally leaner (have a lower body mass index)
Exhibit better physical functioning in school
Have better energy levels
Don’t eat as much at lunch as other children who skip breakfast
Perform better cognitively in school
What they eat for breakfast is just as important. Grabbing a Pop Tart on the way to the bus does not constitute a “healthy” breakfast. Again, multiple studies have shown that a breakfast high in protein and lower in carbohydrates (especially refined carbohydrates like sugar) results in better school performance. The sugary kids breakfast cereals are not a good everyday breakfast choice. And even foods long thought to be “healthy” may not be so good for us: as was discussed in this Salubrity post on sugared drinks, fruit juice, even 100% fruit juice, has a lot of sugar without the fiber, so make sure your children don’t drink too much juice in the morning.
Lunches are sometimes out of your control, as kids will often eat what their friends bring or buy something at school. So discuss with your child what are good food choices at lunchtime. Get a schedule of the school lunches in the cafeteria so you know which days have better options. And caution your child about sharing food with others: some younger students at your child’s table may not be knowledgeable or forthcoming about their food allergies, and eating the lunch packed for your child may cause serious problems.
If you pack a lunch, try to mix it up and provide something out of the routine. Some alternatives that might work include a salad with hard-boiled eggs or strips of cold turkey or chicken on top, a BLT wrap, or ham and cheese pita. There are lots of good ideas for lunches online, many of which are easy and cheap to make. Again, the keys are to cut back on the refined carbohydrates (whole grain breads instead of the usual breads, low carb crackers instead of chips) and foods high in protein (check out alternative sources of protein such as cheese, eggs, peanut butter or quinoa).
And don’t forget the drinks. Sugary drinks are everywhere at school. Make sure your child or teen is not drinking soda, Gatorade, or other sugary drinks at lunchtime.
After school snacks are necessary for most kids (believe them when the say it’s a long day at school). Again, be wary of foods that may seem healthy, like some of the fiber bars that are actually high in sugar. Read the labels carefully. Good snack alternatives include Greek yogurt, nuts, whole fruit (not fruit juice), raw veggies with some vinaigrette or low-fat Ranch dressing, and low carb crackers with hummus.
At the very least, when you are at the grocery store, avoid buying the foods that you don’t want the kids to have. If the chips, soda, and candy are not even in the house, then packing a healthy lunch will automatically be easier.
I know many of you are imagining serving some of these options to your children and teens and can already see them rolling their eyes (or perhaps you are rolling your eyes at me right now). Trust me, I pack some of my daughters’ lunches myself. You may not be able to incorporate all of these ideas, but even trying a few is better for them than a steady diet of bologna, Xxtra Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and a Twinkie everyday.
Dr. Ruben J. Rucoba is a general pediatrician in Wheaton, Illinois. A member of the medical staff at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Central DuPage Hospital, he is especially interested in the care of special needs children. Dr. Rucoba is also a medical writer and the father of four children.