Why Not Start Back To School Time This Year With Bright New Year’s Resolutions?

Aug. 30, 2011 - PRLog -- Back to school means back to making lunches! A daunting daily challenge for even the most organized and creative parent, it’s no small task to create a lunch that is healthy, well-balanced and something your kids will eat and enjoy! It’s important to remember that your kids will have a more successful day at school if their tummies are filled with fresh healthy food – so when it comes to fresh versus fast – do your best to choose fresh! Research has shown that 2/3 of Irish children do not meet their recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables. This year Keelings, a wholly Irish family owned company specializing in producing fruit in the Irish market for three generations, has come up with some top ideas to brighten the kiddies day. So why not create a family diet as colourful as a rainbow and fill those lunchboxes with lots of bright, tasty fruit!

Keelings is passionate about the benefits of fruit in the Irish diet and believes that the back to school time is ideal for creating good eating habits for the whole family – think of it like your new year’s family resolution time! Team work is the first key, including all of the family in ideas and preparation. Kids are far more likely to eat lunches they helped choose and put together. Remember, variety is a must in any balanced diet so why not draw up a rainbow chart at home for all of the family encouraging and educating them on the benefits of including a great variety of tasty colourful nutritious fruits in their diets. Challenge the whole family to pick some red, orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo and violet fruits each day....even the pickiest child is bound to relish at least one of those fruity colours.

Fruit is packed full of essential vitamins, disease fighting phytochemicals, fibre and natural sugars which provide energy to maintain concentration for a full learning day. Aiming to fill a rainbow chart with all of these colours is a great fun way to get all the family eating healthier while getting a great variety of immune boosting vitamins and disease fighting phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are compounds naturally present in fruit that give them their characteristic colour and/or flavour.  What gives strawberries their bright red colour or blueberries their deep blue are these disease fighting phytochemicals, so the more colourful your kiddies diet is, the more nutritious it is!

Aveen Bannon, nutritionist with the Dublin Nutrition Centre said, “Food should be fun and what better way to make lunches fun by introducing children to the idea of eating the colours of the rainbow. Fruit is a great nutritious option for lunchboxes and a great way to encourage your children to eat healthily and get their five a day; the natural sweetness of fruit also makes it an appealing option for kids. Berries, grapes and bananas are easy lunchbox options, but why not try halving a kiwi and put a spoon in the lunchbox so that your child can eat it like an egg? Peel mandarins or oranges or chop up apple pieces to save your child time during their lunch break. Kids eat with their eyes so try chopping fruits into fun shapes. Don’t forget; if you pop fruit into a container make sure the lid is easy for your child to open.”

COLOURFUL WHAT DO THE RAINBOW COLOURS IN YOUR LUNCHBOX MEAN TABLES ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST   

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For further information or an interview with Aveen Bannon, Nutritionist please
contact: Sharon Plunkett / Jennie Cotter. E-mail: sharon@plunkettcommunications.com /
jennie@plunkettcommunications.com