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A new term is starting and the kids are back to school next week. So how can you make sure you are听keeping them healthy?

What鈥檚 in your lunchbox?

42% of children in听Northern Ireland take a packed lunch to school. A few years ago, The Food Standards Agency鈥櫶齝arried out a听听and found that we are packing听our children鈥檚 lunches with听too much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar. If you think that听the average kid鈥檚 lunchbox contains a white bread sandwich or roll (82%), crisps (69%), and biscuits or chocolate (58%), it is not surprising that a child eats twice the recommended lunchtime intake of saturated fat and sugar, and up to half their daily salt intake in their lunch.

滨苍听, only one in five packed lunches contained any vegetables or salad and about half included an item of fruit.

Some听healthy lunchbox ideas

If the start of September fills you with dread at the thought of having to magic up nutritious food听for your child鈥檚 lunchbox every day, here听are a few simple ideas听to help inspire you:

For a change from听sandwiches, try wholemeal pitta pockets packed with chicken or tuna and some vegetables. Tuna, red pepper or grated carrot are usually a hit with kids.

Swap crisps for听little pots of humous with carrot sticks.

Always include at least one vegetable and one piece of fruit. Carrot sticks, sugar-snap peas, cherry tomatoes are good finger foods.

For younger children, pack in little boxes of chopped fruit rather than a whole piece of fruit as the scan be easier to eat.

Pasta, couscous or rice are a good base for salads with tuna, oily fish like salmon or chicken. Add some grated carrot, chopped tomatoes and听vegetables听for colour and interest, and make enough to do a couple if days.

A flask of soup with听a wholemeal sandwich is filling and nutritious. Homemade soups are sick and easy and can be frozen in portion sizes.

Include some low sugar yoghurt. If your child does not like natural yoghurt, then make sure you check the table for low sugar (max 12g per 100g).

There is as much sugar in fruit juice as there is in fizzy drinks, so milk or water is a better choice.

Get your kids involved听in听planning and shopping for school lunches. 听Talk to them about making healthy choices and get their ideas about what they would like to eat. They may surprise you!

If your child is overweight听

Cut听back on sugar. A high sugar intake drives insulin levels up, causing weight gain.听As well as the obvious sources of sugar in a child鈥檚 diet, like fizzy drinks, sweets, cakes and biscuits, keep an eye out for hidden sugars in sauces, soups and bread. Replace fizzy drinks, cordials and juices with plain water flavoured with slices of orange. Cutting back on white, refined carbs like white bread, white rice and pasta will also help.

A recent听听was dedicated to the subject and is worth a listen if this is something that affects your family. In my work with children, it is a hot topic for discussion amongst parents. So, here听are a few tried and tested tricks that might encourage them to try something new.

If your child point blank refuses food, then instead of persisting and getting into tantrum territory, just ask them to lick the food. This is less daunting than having to 鈥榯ake a little bite鈥�, or 鈥榞o on, just try it鈥�.

Get your children into the kitchen 鈥� from the very young to older kids, cooking with your children can help encourage them to try foods you never thought they would eat. If you have small children, simple tasks like getting the peas out of the freezer, stirring some food in a听 bowl or helping to chop herbs with scissors can get them involved and interested in food.

Allow your kids to cook 鈥� once a week set a family challenge for your children. Ask them to cook dinner for the family. Who cares if you end up with beans on toast 鈥� we all have to start somewhere. A couple of websites I like are听听&补尘辫;听听(Donal Skehan looks like he belongs in a boy band, so is perfect for encouraging teens that cooking is cool!).

Deconstruct your dinners! 鈥� instead of plating food up, set everything in the middle of the table and let children choose what they want to eat 鈥� they might surprise you by the choices they make! A perfect dinner to start this way is a family roast, or fajitas.

Take kids shopping 鈥� get them involved in choosing foods听 that they want to eat. Start in the fruit & veg aisle and ask them what they鈥檇 like to eat. You might end up with foods you would never buy, but so what, if it gets them interested in eating good food?

Visit farmer鈥檚 markets, shop at greengrocers and support your local shops. It is much more fun to go food shopping at farmers鈥� markets and farm shops, where you can get to taste and have a nibble of some samples. This is a great way to get kids thinking about where our food comes from.

Grow something!听 Even just a pot of herbs. If your child has grown their own food, chances are they will be proud of it and want to eat it.

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