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Better Nutrition for a Smart
Start to School Lunches
by Alysa Ferguson, RD, CDN, Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Suffolk County
After
a summer filled with outdoor barbeques and one-too-many
ice-cream cones, the fall is a wonderful time to get your
family back on track with healthy eating habits. It’s
also especially important to help your children get the
most out of their education. Here is some advice from
Cornell Cooperative Extension for healthier eating this
school year.
  Morning
can be hectic, but it is essential that kids eat a healthy
breakfast. Besides providing nutrition and energy that
children need to perform their best at school, eating
breakfast has been shown to promote a healthy weight.
A healthy breakfast can be simple and quick, such as whole
grain cereal or whole grain frozen waffles with fruit
and low-fat milk.
Packing
lunch is one of the best ways to ensure children are getting
the nutrition they need, and it can be as simple as a
sandwich on whole grain bread with fruit and a granola
bar. Go with chicken, turkey breast, tuna, or peanut butter
to keep the saturated fat minimal. Make lunch the night
before to avoid the morning rush.
See
Cornell
Cooperative Extension’s website for information on
packing foods safely.
Find
out what’s going on in the school cafeteria. Some
schools are making great strides in their menu, such as
offering more whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Most cafeterias, however, leave room for improvement.
For example, most still offer sweet drinks, French fries,
and other “junk” foods on a daily basis.
With childhood obesity on the rise, parents
and schools have an important job to do. It is important
that all children develop healthy habits as early as possible.
Start this school year right by talking to your children
about the importance of healthy food choices and daily
physical activity.
Alysa Ferguson, RD, CDN, Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Suffolk County. Cornell Cooperative Extension
offers programs for parents and educators on the prevention
of childhood obesity through healthy lifestyle changes.
For more information, please call 631-727-7850, ext.x342
or email ah372@cornell.edu.
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