Healthy Lunch Box

Free programs and resource are available to support your school to promote healthier food and drink choices in lunch boxes.  Have a look at our healthy lunchbox ideas, and join our Live Life Well @ School email list for more great ideas for your school community.

Why should we focus on healthy lunchboxes?

Australian children are not as healthy as they should be.  A lunch box provides a valuable contribution towards a child’s nutritional requirements for a day.  Promoting healthier lunchboxes can encourage parents and children to make healthier choices about their diet, and encourage a whole-school approach to healthy eating.

Our programs can help your school improve lunchboxes

A number of free programs and resources are available for your school to help parents pack a healthy lunchbox, and create an environment to support healthy eating:

• Crunch&Sip® is a set time during the school day to eat vegetables and fruit and drink water in the classroom.  Your school can receive a free participation certificate, badge for your school website and fence sign by completing the implementation checklist.
• Vegetable Week, featuring the fun event ‘The Big Vegie Crunch,’ is a free, school-based  event for NSW primary schools, supported by NSW Health. The aim of the event is to increase children’s knowledge, exposure and positive attitudes towards vegetables.  Held early in term 1, the event can help you school set the scene for eating vegetables throughout the year.
• Fruit & Veg Month, held in September, is a health promotion program for NSW primary schools that puts a positive focus on fruit and vegetables.  The program is free, and schools receive classroom resources, and whole of school
• Northern NSW Local Health District’s Let’s Look at Lunches provides great tips and recipes for children’s lunchboxes for parents in a fortnightly e-newsletter.

Share these healthy lunchbox tips with families

• A healthy lunch keeps active kids alert and focused and gives them the nutrition they need every day. Choose from a variety of food types: fruit and vegetables, starchy food, protein and dairy.
• During summer, include a frozen bottle of water. It will still be cold at lunchtime and will keep the food cool too.
• For busy families, prepare lunchboxes and sandwiches the night before and store them in the fridge to ensure your child always has a healthy lunch with them.
• Keep ‘occasional’ foods such snack food bars, sweet biscuits, chocolate and chips out of the lunch box. Although they can offer a practical convenient solution for lunchboxes, they’re best left out.
• No matter how healthy your child’s lunch box is, it won’t provide any nutritional value if it doesn’t get eaten!

Ready to go?

Email the Population Health team to discuss how we can support you to improve lunchboxes at your school.  You can also join our Live Life Well @ School email list for regular updates on our school-based programs.