School lunchboxes

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We all want to improve our children’s wellbeing and help them enjoy learning. Sending them to school with a healthy lunch is a good way to start.

Most schools have policies to help families to make better choices when planning and preparing school lunches. Ask your school if they have a policy.

This page gives you some ideas for your child’s lunchbox. After all, a balanced lunchbox will help ensure children have the energy they need to learn and play. If your child is taller or more active, they may need to eat more. Go by their appetite when deciding how much food to offer them.

How can you make a healthy lunchbox more fun?

• Put different things in every day to make lunchtime more fun.
• Get your child involved in planning and choosing what they want to eat.
• Let them pick a different colour of fruit each day.
• Keep the crunch! To stop a sandwich going soggy, arrange the filling in layers with salad in the middle.
• Let them choose a brightly coloured drink bottle and lunchbox or decorate a plain lunchbox with stickers.
• Encourage your child to try out new food at home before adding them to a lunchbox.

A healthy lunchbox includes at least one serving from each food group

Vegetables, salad and fruit

• Use carrot or celery sticks with cheese for a more savoury snack.

Wholemeal cereals and breads, potatoes, pasta and rice

• Vary the types of bread you give your kids. It keeps well in the freezer so stock up in advance on pitta bread, bagels, wholemeal rolls… whatever they love.
• Including wholegrain varieties of breads and cereals will support gut health and prevent constipation.

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and nuts 

• Lean cuts of meat such as chicken breast are lower in salt than processed meats such as ham and bacon.
• Choose lean meat more often than processed meat.

Milk, yoghurt and cheese 

• Dairy products are especially important in the diets of children and teenagers.
• They provide calcium to support growing bones and teeth.
• Low-fat dairy products are suitable for children over two years of age.

Mix and match

Choose one option from each of the categories below.

Mid-morning snack

• Carrot sticks with cream cheese
• Half a bagel with nut butter (if school allows) and banana
• Breadsticks with cream cheese
• Yoghurt and a pear
• Crackers with cheese
• Yoghurt and apple
• 2 rice cakes with 2 cheese triangles
• Cucumber sticks with hummus

Lunch

• Chicken salad roll
• Tuna pasta salad
• Lentil soup in a flask
• Pasta salad with tomatoes and grated cheese
• Egg salad sandwich
• Turkey salad wrap
• Cold rice and chickpea salad (tinned chickpeas drained and rinsed with chopped tomato and peppers)
• Ham, lettuce and tomato sandwich

Fruit

• 10 Grapes
• 2 Mandarins
• 1 Apple
• 1 Banana
• 2 Kiwis
• 1 Pear
• 1 Orange
• 10 Blueberries

Suitable Drinks for Children

• Plain water and milk are the most suitable drinks for children. Read more about the best drinks for every day, drinks that should only be consumed occasionally, and drinks to avoid.