8/2/2005

Nutritious Lunches for Kids with Food Sensitivities

Avoiding wheat, dairy, eggs, and soy makes packing lunch boxes doubly challenging

DENVER, CO: The end of summer means lunchboxes instead of sandboxes and the challenge of packing nutritious lunches for school. This task becomes doubly challenging when the kids who are supposed to eat these lunches also have food sensitivities.

According to Packaged Facts, about 5 million kids under the age of 9 have food allergies. Often they react to common foods such as wheat, dairy, and eggs,––foods that are usually in every kid’s lunch box in one form or another. Savvy parents know that kids are more likely to eat what’s in their lunchbox (rather than trade it or throw it away) when they participate in planning its contents and if it contains food they like. Here are a few tips to assure that your food-sensitive child carries a safe, nutritious lunch to school.

Let kids choose between appropriate options

Provide a range of foods that are nutritious and then let kids choose between two options. For example, “Would you like carrot sticks or celery strips with your sandwich?” Or, “Do you want a banana today or would you prefer an apple?”

Involve kids in the lunch packing process

Even the youngest kids can help pack a lunch if the duties are geared to their physical and mental skills. They can wash grapes and put them in reclosable bags or wrap aluminum foil around cookies or muffins. Even if they’re too little to be actively involved, they can observe and talk about the lunch being assembled and feel some ownership over what goes into it.

Scale the food to kid-size

Carrot sticks should be thin enough to be interesting but not so thick that they discourage biting and chewing. Apple slices should be thin; crackers should be the smaller sizes; and rice cakes can be the smaller versions. For home-baked items, consider baking muffins in mini-muffin pans. Make cookies in “bite” sizes and bake cakes in miniature cupcake papers. For a little fun, sandwiches can be cut into small squares or circles using cookie cutters.

Use appropriate lunchboxes and containers

A clever, contemporary lunchbox that features a kid’s favorite character or theme makes carrying a lunch more fun. Hot soup makes an ideal lunch, but be sure to choose an appropriate size thermos. Use small ice packs for food that must stay cold or freeze a box of juice and use it instead of an ice pack.

Tailor food to kids’ sensitivities

Having kids with food sensitivities precludes using lots of commercially prepared foods because they often contain the very food allergens you’re trying to avoid. This means lunches rely more on fresh fruits and vegetables, foods manufactured specifically for certain allergies, and homemade dishes using acceptable substitutes for the offending foods.

For dairy-averse kids, try individual-serving boxes of rice milk or soy milk. Soy yogurts are available in individual cartons. Pack tuna salad or egg salad in individual containers. For wheat-sensitive kids, put rice crackers in a separate bag to keep them from getting soggy. They can dip the crackers into the salad or make little cracker-sandwiches. Or, put corn tortillas or the new rice flour tortillas (available in health food stores) in resealable bags and let kids make their own tortilla sandwiches or spread the salad on strips of torn tortillas.

Look to cookbooks that show how to use substitutes for wheat, dairy, and eggs. Just about everything can be made without these common food culprits and the substitutes are often already in your pantry or readily available at the natural food store.

Consider leftovers as lunch

Cold pizza from last night’s supper is just fine, providing it is not packed with fat or preservatives and omits the child’s food allergens. Homemade pizza can be made without wheat, dairy, and eggs using recipes from special diet cookbooks.

Carol Fenster, PhD is the author of Cooking Free, a cookbook for people who can’t eat wheat, dairy, or eggs. She remembers carrying a lunchbox all through elementary school and is keenly interested in what her three-year-old grandson carries in his lunch box to nursery school. Contact her at www.SavoryPalate.com.

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