Packed Lunches
Packed lunches can contribute to almost a third of a child’s weekly food intake and therefore need to be balanced and nutritious. Our aim is to ensure that packed lunches brought in from home reflect the standards for school meals.
The contents of lunchboxes can be extremely unhealthy and may contain foods with high levels of fat, sugar and salt, and very few fruit and vegetables.
Ideally, children’s packed lunches should include items from the 5 main food groups;
- Bread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta
- These starchy foods are a healthy source of energy. Packed lunches should include 2 or more portions eg pasta salad, sandwich.
- Fruit and Vegetables
- These foods provide vitamins, minerals and fibre. Lunches should include at least 1 portion of fruit and 1 portion of vegetables / salad, or more e.g. carrot/cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, a piece of fruit.
- Dairy
- These foods provide calcium for healthy bones and teeth. Include 1 portion at lunch e.g. yoghurt or fromage frais.
- Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans
- These foods provide protein for growth. Packed lunches should include 1 portion of these foods e.g. boiled egg as filling in sandwich, mixed bean salad.
- Drinks
- Only water should be included in packed lunches. There are jugs of water on the lunch tables for children to help themselves.
Please do not include the following items in a packed lunch
- Fizzy Pop/Fruit shoots
- Sweets
- Chocolate bars
A choice of only one of the following is recommended per day:
- A cake bar
- Packet of crisps
- Biscuit
***DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING CONTAINING NUTS - KYSON IS A NUT FREE SCHOOL***
