Healthy Brown Bagging

Getting back to school means getting back into early rising, wearing shoes instead of flip-flops, and packing lunches for your school age children. With one in five children in the USA now battling obesity, it's time to turn our attention to their foods.

Yogurt, once the choice of root, nut and berry eaters has become more mainstream. This is a good thing because yogurt is full of probiotics, it boosts digestive health of both the young and old. It is a great source of calcium helping to build strong bones and teeth. It even comes in kid friendly tubes, that means you can leave the spoon at home.

Avoiding soda does not have to be a painful experience for you or your kids. With four or five teaspoons of sugar in each portion of soda ( and have you checked how many portions are in each can?) fruit juice, with a slew of healthy benefits, is a much wiser choice. Low fat or skim milk is another good option. Another great choice is a water bottle. That water bottle can double as a fruit rinse, and a spot remover as well as being a great thirst quencher, the bottle can be refilled during the day for multiple uses saving both calories and money while reducing then load they they carry to school.

Unsalted peanut butter paired with no added sugar jam makes a tasty sandwich. Put it on whole wheat bread for added nutritional punch. You might want to switch up occasionally with cashew butter or almond butter, both have different nutritional benefits so they offer variety of taste as well as a switch in nutrition. Water packed tuna with just a touch of mayo and some leaf lettice makes a nice change up, or choose a cheese sandwich with a few thin slices of Swiss cheese or Yellow cheese with a slice of tomato, this will offer variety as well as boosting the calcium and vegetable intake. For an inexpensive change up you might do up an egg sandwich on toast with a dollop of tomato rich catsup for added flavor. True eggs may have some fats but they are rich in protein and other nutrients that a growing body needs, if cholesterol is an issue you might try the 'Eggbeaters,' available in the supermarkets.

Fresh fruit is a great choice as a snack or after lunch treat. On Fridays you might want to put in a small zip bag of baked chips. Be sure to choose one that is low in salt. Bananas, apples and oranges all travel easily in a lunch bag.

Whole nuts make a great nutritional treat and add a wake up crunch to the mid day meal or they can be added as a snack.

Make sure that your child gets enough physical activity during his or her day. Organized sports are a great physical outlet but just riding their bicycle to a friends house after school can be a good workout. With the budget crunches that todays schools are facing gym is often an after thought. or left out all together.

With a healthy balance of activity and sound nutrition your child can develop habits that will avoid the yo-yo fight with their waist line and the scale.