A healthy lunchbox proves a tasty challenge

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Sparing time to prepare an interesting and nutritionally balanced lunchbox for their children day in and day out is a major challenge for many busy parents.

Paulina, a working mother of two elementary school students, found it was too difficult to achieve every day.

"I just give them some money so they can buy something for lunch at school," she said.

Yet, many parents are plagued by fears that opting to have their children buy lunch from vendors in and around the school may be putting their children's health at risk. Concerns for hygiene are questionable and many studies have shown that the food is loaded with preservatives, additives, sodium, MSG and coloring agents.

Since school administrations have yet to pay strict attention to hygiene and the nutritional standard of food sold in school canteens or at the compound, the remaining options for a healthy lunch is to eat at home or bring a homemade lunchbox to school.

Liliana, also a mother of two, insists that her children return home for lunch every day although she gives them pocket money before they go to school.

"Fortunately, I live close to school so they can return home for lunch," she said.

Lunch is an important element of a school-age child's daily diet, according to Geetruida Rory, a dietitian with the Pantai Indah Kapuk hospital in North Jakarta.

Food sold by vendors may take the edge off the children's hunger and satisfy caloric intake requirements, but it will come up short for their nutritional needs. Children may end up gorging on fast food snacks, and suffer from a weight problem as a result, she added.

Parents need to instill good eating habits in their children as early as possible to ensure they are getting the nutrients and energy they need for growth and development, even when their mother cannot keep an eye on what they are eating.

Well-planned homemade meals are bound to be more hygienic and nutritionally balanced, she said, noting that a good breakfast is important to provide children with the energy to start the day.

She said a good breakfast would prevent a hypoglycemic condition or "sugar rush" from snacking on sweet, processed foods that leads to fatigue, sleepiness and concentration problems, thus affecting children's performance at school.

"A well-balanced lunch is important, especially for school- aged children of seven to 12 years old because they start having activities outside their home, like playing with their friends or joining an after-school study group," Geetruida said.

Since many children are too young to understand the importance of making healthy food selections, parents are advised to provide them with a lunchbox.

"Apart from their high fat content, junk food also tends to be too salty or too sweet, and this can affect children's sensitivity to flavors and in the long term, can trigger health problems like overweight, hypertension, heart disease or diabetes," Geetruida said.

Children's nutritional status, she said, was determined by measuring their age, height and weight. For instance, the ideal body weight for children with an average body height from 121.7 centimeters to 149.7 centimeters ranges from 22 kilograms to 39 kilograms, with adjustments for their individual body frame.

"If a child weighs less than the average range, he or she can be considered undernourished and parents need to be cautious," she said.

At this age, children need an average caloric intake of 1,900 -- drawn from 20 to 25 percent protein, 60 percent carbohydrate and 15 to 20 percent fat. A good diet needs to comprise various sources to assure the meal provides all the macro and micro nutrition for healthy growth.

Geetruida said one third of the daily caloric intake was ideally fulfilled by a good lunch meal, including a serving of each of the following -- rice (or other carbohydrate), meat, vegetable with a slice of fruit (or unsweetened fruit juice) and a serving of bottled or packed milk.

"A quick, tasty lunch that looks appetizing is preferable so they can play right after finishing their lunch," Geetruida said.

The dietitian acknowledged that preparing a lunchbox is a challenge and time-consuming for parents, especially working mothers. But exploring cookbooks might help solve the problem of resorting to the same sandwich-snack-drink routine.

Parents should also be creative in encouraging their children to eat "icky" but nutritious food, like vegetables.

"Spinach, for instance, can be transformed into a delicious cream soup or pie that is more interesting that just plain vegetables," she explained.

Parents can also learn to prepare meals that fit their children's needs, like a low-fat but tasty lunchbox for children with a tendency to overweight.

"This way parents know what their children eat and control consumption of junk food or sweets that tend to be high in salt, sugar and fat but low in nutrition."

A launch on the go

Introducing a well balanced diet to children should start as early possible in the home to ensure they adopt good eating habits that will serve them throughout their lives.

Although some children may have eating problems or dislike certain food groups, it is wise to encourage them to eat a balanced, varied diet, taken from carbohydrates (rice, potatos or bread), protein (meats, fish, egg, tempeh, tofu), vegetables, fruits and milk.

Patience and creative cooking are important to persuade children to try nutritionally rich foods they dislike.

Since a lunchbox is prepared in the morning but consumed several hours later, it's important to consider those foods that will spoil quickly.

These include oily foods, especially those containing coconut milk, items which should be kept refrigerated and reheated before eating, or mayonnaise, which can be a source for the proliferation of the salmonella bacteria without proper refrigeration.

Durable foods for a lunchbox are those that contain no milk, coconut milk, and have little oil and liquid.

Keep in mind varying the diet is not only healthier but also makes meal time a lot more interesting.

If it is impossible to plan and prepare a lunchbox, encourage children to buy freshly prepared food at school to minimize risks of salmonella contamination and to avoid precooked or semi-cooked food, like gado-gado (mixed vegetables).

As for drinks, advise your children to avoid nonbottled beverages. Suitable picks are mineral water, individually packed fresh milk or nonsweetened fruit juice, instead of sugary carbonated drinks.

-- Maria Endah Hulupi