Did you know?  A recent survey found that less than 10% of school lunchboxes meet the recommendations for a healthy lunch box.*

It’s often the little things we do that make a big difference, so here’s Sam’s top tips for helping to create a healthy lunch box for your children.

• Involve children in preparing their lunch and make it fun by being creative. I use a sandwich cutter for novelty – such as stars, squares and crinkle cut and find that grating vegetables or adding fruit to salad helps – the kids love it!
• Use different types of bread such as wholemeal, mixed grain and white hi-fibre – ask them to choose which one they want to use
• For sandwiches, switch from butter to a healthy margarine spread like MeadowLea – if your child makes this switch, they will save 2.85kg of saturated fat per year** and you can choose from Salt Reduced, Light, Extra Light, Canola, Lactose Free and Original. Combine with some salad, lean protein like low fat cheese or chicken if they have a cooler bag
• For variety why not try mini frittata’s that travel well in their lunchbox and taste great.  You can make these healthier by substituting butter for margarine in cooking.
• Make healthy finger food – like chopped fruit and vegetables
• Kids are influenced by friends at school. It’s important to make lunches interesting, but avoid variety fatigue by making changes weekly not daily. Try and involve the kids in helping to set the menu for the week