Important: This post is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. You should always consult your physician before making any medical decisions for your child.
As a parent, finding easy ways to feed your family can be a significant daily challenge. Each day, you have little ones asking what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there are always different needs and preferences to accommodate.
On top of this, making sure each meal is healthy can add an extra challenge to meal planning. In this blog post, you’ll learn a few healthy lunch ideas for kids. Keep these recipes in your back pocket to ensure you never run out of ideas for meal time.
The importance of healthy lunches for kids
Eating healthy is one of the best ways to provide your body with energy and top up vital nutrients to support overall health. Every healthy lunch you make for your child helps them live up to their full potential in their daily activities.
By making healthy lunches for your kids, you help support their:
- Muscle growth
- Eye, teeth, and skin health
- Bone density
- Brain development
- Immunity
- Digestive system functioning
A healthy, balanced lunch can also improve your child’s concentration levels during the day. This helps them pay attention during class and make the most of their education. Kid lunches full of nutritional foods can promote healthy energy levels and mood, making it easier for your child to behave well.
Perhaps the most important aspect of providing healthy lunches for your kids, though, is setting them up for healthier choices in the long run. Start young, and you can build a solid foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating habits.
The evidence suggests that there’s room for improvement, too. Of 132,489 children, the WHO found the following about their daily eating habits:
- 78.8% ate breakfast
- 42.5% ate fresh fruit
- 22.6% ate vegetables
- 10.3% had sweet snacks
- 9.4% consumed soft drinks
While every child is different, many could benefit from a larger intake of fruits and vegetables, as well as fewer sugary drinks and processed snacks.
Quick and easy healthy lunches for kids
Maybe you associate the word “healthy” with hours of preparation, cutting up vegetables and pairing them with healthy protein sources, only for your child to ask for something else. If that sounds like you, you’re not alone! However, many healthy kid lunches can be incredibly simple and enjoyable for the whole family.
A simple way to think about healthy lunches for your kids is to create them based on what they should eat for their age.
The CDC recommends the following:
Between the ages of 12-23 months:
- ½ to 1 cup of fruit
- ⅔ to 1 cup of vegetables
Between 2 and 4 years old:
- 1 to 1 ½ cups of fruit
- 1 to 2 cups of vegetables
Between 4 and 8 years:
- 1 to 2 cups of fruit
- 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups of vegetables
While making lunches for your kids, keep these general guidelines in mind and you can’t go too far wrong. Also, consider serving a rainbow of colors, from purple beets to yellow bananas, as a variety of colors often represents a nice variety of vitamins and minerals too.
Here are 3 fun and easy ideas our board-certified pediatricians like to recommend to the families we serve:
1. Rainbow veggie wraps
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat tortillas
- Shredded carrots
- Spinach
- Bell peppers
- Avocado
The beauty of this lunch is how easy it is to put together, and how many veggies you can get into one meal. Wraps are also a fun way to eat together as a family, and can be a good way to introduce your children to new vegetables.
For a school-friendly take on this healthy kid lunch, you can agree on the ingredients in advance with your child, or for older children, even have them help you make their “rainbow wrap” the night before school.
Tip: You can swap out any of the veggies to align with your child’s preferences, and add some sliced meat or tofu for an extra source of protein.
2. Kiddie charcuterie
Ingredients:
- Various whole grain crackers
- Cheese cubes
- Sliced cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber slices or strips
- Slices of meat or a favorite protein
- Small portions of fruit, like cut strawberries, grapes, or apples
Kiddie charcuterie is another fun healthy lunch idea for kids that offers a creative spin on the typical lunchbox. It turns mealtime into a more interactive experience with healthy, easy-to-grab foods to munch and explore.
There’s no right way to eat from a charcuterie board, so this encourages your child to try a lot of different foods and explore different textures and flavor pairings. Plus, it can be an appetizing feast for the eyes if you load it up with colorful fruits and vegetables.
Tip: Add a healthy dip like hummus, guacamole, or a small portion of nut butter for additional nutrients. This is a helpful way to make new veggies more palatable for your kids — so less of them come back uneaten in their lunch box!
3. DIY mini pita pizzas
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat pita bread
- Tomato sauce
- Shredded cheese
- Favorite healthy toppings like olives, mushrooms, spinach, or bell peppers
Most kids love pizza, so why not put a healthy twist on this signature dish? Substitute the pizza dough for whole wheat pita bread, then get the kids involved by adding their favorite toppings before baking in the oven.
You can bake these pita pizzas to have at home or make extras to store in the fridge for the following day at school.
Simply layer the tomato sauce onto the pita bread, sprinkle shredded cheese over the bread, and add toppings. Then, place them in a preheated oven at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Tip: These mini pizzas are great on their own as a healthy lunch, but you can serve them with a side of veggies and hummus, or a salad to pack even more nutrition into the meal.
Other ways to help your child get the nutrients they need
Maybe you’re exploring healthy lunches for kids, but you struggle to find nutrient-rich foods your child enjoys? This is common, as children’s palates are still developing, so they may not love all of the fruits and veggies you do yet. Luckily, there are other ways to fortify their lunches with more essential nutrients.
A great way to create nutrient-dense meals for your child is to make simple substitutions.
One of our favorite recommendations is to replace water with bone broth when you make purees. That way, your child gets more nutrients even when you need a meal that’s easier on the go.
Another suggestion we give our families often is to add healthy fats to the dishes your child enjoys eating to support brain development and overall growth. Some options include:
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Coconut oil
- Avocado
These ingredients are easy to sneak into purees, smoothies, mashed potatoes, pasta sauces, or scrambled eggs to add more healthy fats to your child’s diet.
Preparing healthy lunches for your kids
Meal-prepping and everything else that goes into creating easy healthy lunches for kids can be a lot to keep up with. It beats the best of us at times.
Try to accept that while you’ll do your best, you might not be able to always provide the healthiest meals for your children — and that’s okay. At the end of the day, fed is best, and creating a positive, low-stress mealtime experience is an important factor in your family’s health too.
However, hopefully you’ve seen just how simple, easy (and fun) healthy lunch ideas for kids can be. We hope you feel encouraged to give some of these recipes a try!
If you’re looking for pediatric care in NYC and direct communication with your child’s doctor, consider joining our pediatric membership. Whether it’s offering kid lunch suggestions or coming to you for home visits, the Elliston Pediatrics team serves as partners in your child’s health.
