Back to school is here, which means it’s time to think about kids’ lunches. Here are some suggestions to help them stay healthy and hydrated all year long.
- Encourage your child to drink water throughout the day, including at lunch. Because many kids prefer the taste of cold water, we recommend filling a reusable bottle half-way with water and placing it in the freezer overnight. The next day, top it off with more water. Pack this in their lunch. This can provide a refreshing drink throughout the day.
- Fat-free and low-fat milk are great drink choices for lunch. Unflavored milk is the healthiest. Like water, milk tastes best when it is ice cold. For this reason, have your kids buy milk at school since it’s difficult to keep milk extremely cold in a lunch box.
- 100% fruit juice can be part of a healthy lunch. However, juice falls short of the full benefits that whole fruit provides. The biggest loss from juicing fruit is fiber, which is important for preventing constipation. For this reason, it’s best to pack whole fruit in their lunches most days and 100% juice occasionally.
There are many other drinks available at the grocery store that are marketed as kids’ drinks. Sports drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and flavored waters are a few examples. Most of these drinks have added sugar which increases kids’ risk for unhealthy weight gain, diabetes, and tooth decay.
This article was written and reviewed by Rethink Your Drink Nevada’s team of dietetic professionals. If you have a suggestion for a topic for the Insider, write to rethinkyourdrinknevada@unr.edu and receive a free, healthy drink recipe book.
