A parent takes a photo of their child's lunch for their Instagram feed. Photo: Getty Parents should steer clear of trying to create school lunches that will look good on Instagram, and focus instead on making their kids’ lunches fun, a nutritionist has advised. Isabelle Fagan, a registered dietitian currently working for the Orla Walsh dietitian and nutrition centre, said parents shouldn’t feel pressure to be giving their kids the perfect lunches.
“I think parents can put a lot of pressure on themselves, seeing these beautifully curated Instagrammable lunches,” she said. “At the end of the day, what we want is that the child will eat the food.” Ms Fagan advised that accessibility is an important factor many parents can overlook when creating a lunchbox meal for the children.
“Are they actually able to go and open the banana, or open the yoghurt packets in the lunchbox, and are they familiar with the food?” she said. Children are unlikely to want to try new foods when in an already-unfamiliar environment such as a school, especially if they are only entering into education, added Ms Fagan. “We need things that are easy for them to eat, quick for them to eat and familiar [to them],” she said.
Ms Fagan said it can help to simplify things by focusing on three main food types – carbohydrates, proteins and colour (fruit/veg). An ideal lunch should include these three elements, said Ms Fagan, but parents shouldn’t stress if their child doesn’t eat everything included. Isabelle Fagan “The meals in the lunches that the kids eat in school are 20pc of their daily nutrition.
So it’s not the end of the world if they come home with mostly unfinished lunches, because they can make up for it with extra snacks or bigger meals at home,” she said. Children can be inspired to eat more of their lunches if the food included catches their interest, said Ms Fagan, adding that sandwiches or fruits cut into different shapes can be really eye-catching. One way to help engage children with their lunches is to allow them help to make the meal themselves, Deirdre Grant, who runs Cool Food School which promotes healthy eating to children, said.
“Parents have certain responsibilities when it comes to feeding their children, but children also have responsibilities when it comes to feeding themselves,” she said. Ms Grant said this can be done by giving children a limited range of choices when it comes to what they want in their lunchbox, and letting them make the final decision. “You don’t provide chocolate, then they can’t put chocolate into their lunchbox,” she said.
Ms Grant also warned against restricting sweet foods too heavily, saying this can make the foods even more desirable to a child. “You have to be careful not to put any food on a pedestal,” she said. However, Ms Fagan warns that sweetened drinks in particular should be avoided, as the flavoured component can trick children into thinking they’re more full than they actually are, and may contribute to them not finishing full lunches.
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