Packaging healthy lunches for kids can be a real challenge for parents as the school year begins. This can be especially tough for kids on the autism spectrum, who often have picky eating habits. Did you know that 50% to 89% of kids with autism are selective about their food? This can make it tricky to get them to eat a balanced variety of foods, leading to mealtime struggles or difficulties in putting together a school lunch they’ll eat. As a result, many lunch boxes end up being filled with foods that the child prefers rather than balanced choices. This usually means a preference for starches and snack foods over more balanced options.
If your child is selective with foods or has poor dietary habits, what can you do? Here are a few things I want you to know and consider:
First things first—rule out any medical issues! If your child is refusing certain foods, it might be because they know it could upset their stomach. Gastrointestinal problems are common in kids with autism, and many of them have a hard time explaining when they're in discomfort.
Did you know that ⅓ of children with autism in the US suffer from obesity? Overeating is a common issue among children and teens on the autism spectrum. Despite having food selectivity, many individuals experience what we call hyperphagia. This is an intense desire to eat that goes beyond true hunger. Given unchecked access to food, someone with hyperphagia may eat almost constantly. This is why PORTION CONTROL is extremely important. Read labels and stick to portion sizes! 1 Portion size = 1 Snack
Keep a meal-snack routine. Create a schedule and stick to it. For children with autism, consistency is key. Routines help them thrive, so why not create a meal- and snack-time schedule and stick to it? The schedule allows children to know what to expect, but also creates boundaries. To create a meal routine keep in mind that young children need 3 meals a day and 2 snack times. Older children need 3 meals a day and 1 snack time, unless they are physically active or going through a growth spurt, then they need 2 snack times as well. Therefore, limit snacking in between meals, and when preparing the lunch box, do not fill it out with snacks. Put only one snack in it. If your child only snacks at school, and does not eat a meal. Make sure to not overpack the lunchbox with snacks to overcompensate. Stick to one snack and a fruit.
Understand the relationship between the brain and sugar… The brain is dependent on sugar as its main fuel. Glucose, a type of sugar, is the main fuel for every cell in our body. Since the brain is packed with nerve cells, it needs a lot of energy—actually, it uses about half of all the sugar energy in our body! The brain needs glucose to think, remember, and learn well. How well it works depends on how efficiently the brain uses this fuel source. Eating a lot of sugar can lead to rapid spikes in blood glucose levels, giving kids a quick burst of energy (a "sugar high"). However, this is often followed by a sharp drop in energy (a "crash"), which can make them feel tired, irritable, and unable to concentrate. Frequent sugar crashes can make it difficult for children to focus during school, affecting their ability to pay attention, retain information, and perform well academically. High sugar intake has been linked to difficulties with learning and memory. Over time, a diet high in sugar can impact the brain’s ability to process information and form memories. Lastly, excessive sugar intake contributes to weight gain increasing the risk of obesity, and can lead to insulin resistance, nutritional deficiencies, and poor dental health. Understanding how much sugar your child is having daily is important. For children ages 2 and older, Aim for less than 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons) of added sugar per day. Anything higher than that affects your child physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Physical activity is important! Children 3 to 5 need to be active throughout the day. Children and teens need to be active for at least 60 minutes every day. Physical activity benefits children’s health. Encouraging these minimal activities helps keep them moving, build healthy habits, and support their physical and mental well-being.
When it comes to your selective eaters, school lunch can be a great opportunity for them to try new foods! Why? Let me explain… School lunchtime offers a unique setting where selective eaters can explore new foods in a social, structured, and independent environment, helping them gradually expand their food choices and develop healthier eating habits:
Peer influence and positive pressure: Watching friends enjoy different foods can make them curious and more willing to try something new, encouraging selective eaters to step out of their comfort zone.
Structure environment: The structured environment of school lunch provides a consistent time and place to try new foods, which can help reduce anxiety about unfamiliar items. Also, with a limited selection of foods during lunch, kids might be more likely to experiment with what’s available.
Independence: lunchtime at school gives kids a sense of independence of choosing what to eat, which can empower them to try something new. Also, children may respond better without their parents around. Children might feel less pressure and more open to trying foods they would not normally eat or try at home
Repetition and exposure: Consistent exposure to new foods during lunchtime at school can help children become more familiar with them, which is often the first step in trying something new. Lastly, kids can take small bites or try small portions of new foods without the pressure to finish them, making the experience less overwhelming.
How to make healthy school lunches for children?
Now let’s focus on school lunches and snacks. A nutritious lunch or snack fuels children’s bodies and minds, helping them stay focused and energized throughout the day. You can keep lunches simple, but nutritious.
Hydration: Stick to sending only water for your child to drink at school, it is the best choice for hydration. It is not only the best choice but a necessary one. Restoring fluids lost through the day, keeping temperature normal, and carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells. Make sure to pack a water bottle for refilling throughout the school day. Other choices include flavored and unsweetened seltzers or fruit-infused water. AVOID SUGARY DRINKS.
Start with a Balanced Plate: The key to a healthy lunch is balance. Aim to include the following in your child's lunchbox:
Protein: Essential for growth and keeping kids full longer. Include lean meats like turkey or chicken, plant-based options like beans or tofu, or other sources like eggs and yogurt.
Whole Grains: Whole grains provide sustained energy. Choose whole grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat pasta.
Fruits and Vegetables: Aim to include a variety of colors. Fresh fruits like apple slices, berries, or orange segments, and veggies like carrot sticks, cucumber slices, or cherry tomatoes add vitamins and fiber.
Dairy or Dairy Alternatives: Include a source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or a small milk carton. For dairy-free options, consider fortified almond, soy, or oat milk.
Presentation helps for foods to look more appealing to the eye, and for portion control:
Bento Boxes: Use bento boxes with compartments to separate foods. This keeps everything neat and allows for a variety of tastes and textures.
Colorful Picks and Containers: Bright, colorful food picks and containers can make lunchtime more exciting.
Portion control containers: Helps you keep portion sizes, and it tricks the kids’ eyes as the containers are full. You can buy check out the containers here: https://amzn.to/46NkJhz
Keep things simple, plan ahead, and create a routine:
Create a weekly food schedule for school lunches. Provide the same school lunch weekly. This way your child will learn to know what to expect each day, but at the same time it gives more variation as each day of the week, it will be something different. Many times, we see that the children tend to have the same things in their lunchboxes.
Sometimes the best lunch is dinner leftovers!
Pack lunches the night before to avoid the morning rush
Prepare large batches of your child’s favorite foods and portion them out for the week. See if you can make your child’s favorite food more nutritious (see info below)
To introduce new foods into your child’s lunch box: Most kids need to see a food multiple times (around 12 times) before they’ll eat it willingly. Children with autism might need even more exposure before they’re comfortable trying a new food or food group. Choose foods that are similar in taste and texture to those your child already likes. This means, that once you introduce a food, it should be daily on your child’s lunch box for at least a month. Do not introduce more than one or two foods at the same time.
Now, let’s take a look at food options:
First things first, how can we make your child’s favorite food more nutritious? Here are some simple ideas:
Use vegetable, beef, or bone broth to cook the pasta and the rice. It adds protein, collagen, and amino acids to make their favorite food a little healthier.
Blend vegetables and mix them in red sauce.
Blend vegetables and mix them with ground beef to make burgers or meatballs.
For breading, you can grind oats and use oats. You can add salt and spices of your choice to make breadcrumbs to your child’s taste. This can be a great replacement for children’s chicken nuggets. You can make batches of chicken fingers and freeze them.
Transition them little by little to better options. For example, if they eat white rice, start mixing some brown rice into their white rice. Increase the ratio of brown/white rice until they are fully eating brown rice.
Use cauliflower crust pizza.
What about snacks? The most important thing with snack selection is to stick to 1 serving of the snack for portion control and read the labels to look for the best choice. Here is a trick… Everything that goes into that food will be listed on the label in weight order from biggest to smallest. So if the first few ingredients contain saturated fat - like cream, butter, fatty meat, or cheese - or sugars, whether white or brown sugar, syrups, or concentrated fruit juice, it’s worth bearing in mind that these make up the largest proportion of the food. You want to pick snacks with simple ingredient lists. Lastly, always keep an eye on the big four: sugar (5g/100g or less is low sugar. Anything 22.5g/100g or more is high), salt (0.3g/100g or less is low. Anything 1.5g/100g or more is high), saturated fat (1.5g/100g or less is low. Anything 5g/100g or more is high), and total fat (3g/100g or less is low. Anything 17.5g/100g is high)
Here are some options for snacks
Baked chips
Veggie chips
Tortilla chips with guacamole
Pretzels with hummus
Yogurt: Yoplait Protein is a good option. It has 15 grams of protein and only 3 grams of sugar. You can also do dairy-free options or Greek yogurt. Make sure the sugar content on the yogurt you pick is low
Fruits
Rice cake with sunflower butter and jam or jelly. You can use peanut butter if your child’s school is not a Nuts-Free School.
Popcorn
Cheese sticks
Baby carrots with hummus, or veggies with hummus or other dips.
Protein bars with simple ingredients and low-sugar
Sample of a weekly lunchbox schedule.
Monday: Chicken (breaded or grilled) and rice (made with vegetable broth). One fruit: Banana. One snack: Veggie chips
Tuesday: Pasta (made with bone broth) with butter or tomato sauce (you can add ground beef and veggies). One fruit: Tangerine. One snack: Protein bar/Pretzel with hummus
Wednesday: meatballs (made with ground beef or ground turkey and blended veggies). One fruit: grapes. One snack: Yogurt
Thursday: Ham and cheese sandwich, or turkey and cheese sandwich. One fruit: Apple. One snack: tortilla chips with guacamole or other dip
Friday: Cauliflower crust pizza. One fruit: berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries. One snack: baked chips
Try a specific schedule for about a month, then ask the teachers for feedback or make changes to it based on what comes back home inside the lunchbox. Make sure you allow for enough time for your children to try things and get used to things.
Healthy school lunches are an essential part of your child's day, providing them with the nutrients they need to learn, play, and grow. Remember, changing habits takes time and effort, but it can lead to big benefits in your child's optimal health and potential. Here's to a healthy and successful school year!
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