School-age nutrition and fitness: in a nutshell

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A healthy breakfast wakes up your child's body by starting his metabolism. Breakfast provides the energy he needs for the day. Research has found that children who skip breakfast tend to weigh more. This may be because these hungry children eat more later during the day.

Mornings can be a mad rush for many families. Thankfully, breakfast can be relatively quick and easy to prepare, like yoghurt and fruit, cereal and milk, or toast.

Healthy food for school-age children

• Read about our healthy eating guidelines and practical tools to help you ensure your child eats good food.
• For good food made easy, try these meals in minutes.
• Pack a goodness punch by including lots of your child's nutritional needs in one dish. Try Everything fried rice, an omelette with the lot, shepherd's pie, baked beans on wholegrain toast or pasta bolognaise with a meat and vegie sauce.

School lunch-box ideas

In most schools, children can choose to get their lunch from the school tuckshop or bring their own lunch from home. Thanks to recent concerted efforts by parents, the food in some tuckshops is now much more nutritious. Still, it is probably cheaper and healthier to send your child to school with his own lunch box stuffed with good things.

Sandwich ideasIf your child's lunch is returning home uneaten, it may be that he doesn't have time to eat his food before his friends want to play. Try cutting the sandwich into quarters, rather than halves, so he can at least finish some lunch before play begins.

Here are suggestions for a wholegrain-bread sandwich (or you can use pita bread, a baguette or rice cakes):

• cheese, lettuce and chutney
• Swiss cheese and sliced gherkin (pickled cucumber)
• cottage cheese or ricotta and dates
• brie cheese and cranberry sauce
• pita bread pockets, roll-ups or Turkish bread with lean meat or falafel and salad
• curried egg or mashed boiled egg and lettuce 
• chicken, mayonnaise and celery

FruitA piece of fruit added to the lunch box is a good idea. You can peel and cut a kiwi fruit and put it in a separate container. If your child doesn't have time to eat a whole apple during lunch, quarter it and squeeze some lemon juice over to prevent browning by lunch time. Bananas come in their own easy-to-peel packaging.

DrinkYour child gets thirsty running around the playground. The best thirst quencher is plain water.

More lunch box ideas

• A drinking straw skewered with cubes of cheese and cherry tomatoes (or strawberries if they are in season and not so expensive)
• Carrot and celery sticks with hummus dip (put hummus in a separate container so your child can dip into it)
• Draw a silly smiley face and put it in his lunch box. He can't eat it but it will make him laugh.

School-age activity

Your school-age child benefits from at least two hours activity each day. Activity can be fun things like playing at the playground or swimming at the beach. Walking to school also counts, and you can spend the time together having a chat. If you drive to school, try parking a few blocks away to sneak some activity into your day.

Some children don't seem to like organised sports, and there are plenty of other activities they can do instead. But it's a good idea to look for underlying causes for a dislike of sport, to see if you can find a solution and to rule out any health or other issues.

Learn how to help your child improve his physical skills.

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  Newsletter snippet: School-age nutrition and fitness: in a nutshell
  

  
  By Raising Children Network

  School-age children need to start the day with a healthy breakfast. It can be as easy as yoghurt and fruit, some healthy cereal or toast.
  
  You are your child’s eating role model, so it’s important to provide healthy meals and snacks at home.
  
  School lunch-box ideas

  • Try cutting sandwiches into quarters rather than halves so they don’t take too long to eat.
  • Make sandwiches using wholegrain bread, pita bread, a baguette or rice cakes.
  • Use different fillings, like Swiss, cheddar, brie or cottage cheese, curried or mashed egg, or chicken and mayonnaise.
  • Try carrot or celery sticks with a dip.
  • Include a piece of fruit, perhaps sliced or peeled to make things easier.
  • Remember that water is the best thirst quencher.

  This article is an extract only. For more information, visit  raisingchildren.net.au/nutrition__fitness/school_age_nutrition.html.

  Sourced from the Raising Children Network's comprehensive and quality-assured Australian parenting website www.raisingchildren.net.au.