Is it difficult to assemble the children’s lunch box? We bring here 10 inspirations

For children, opening the lunchbox and enjoying a small meal between classes is always a mixture of surprise and joy. As for those who prepare the menu daily… Well, this task can be quite exhausting. “Mothers complain at the office that they lack inspiration and they end up sending the same thing over and over again, which leads the children to get sick of some fruit, juice or sandwich”, says pediatrician Cláudia Guimarães.

Another concern of mothers, according to the doctor, is the nutritional quality of drinks and food. “Boxed juices always cause a lot of questions, as well as industrialized cookies and snacks. As a rule, I say it’s best to avoid anything that has a lot of sugar, sodium, and preservatives,” she says.

And how to identify this in the products? She replies: “You have to read the ingredients list. The ones that come first are the ones that are in greater quantity in the recipe. If a juice, for example, has sugar already second or third in the ingredients, it is better to avoid it. And those complex names, of things that do not exist in nature, at the end of the list indicate preservatives, thickeners, acidulants… chemistry, anyway. It is also recommended to avoid.”

For Sonaira Fonseca, a pediatrician and medical coordinator at the Central Nacional Unimed, it is important to keep in mind that quality food is not synonymous with elaborate and expensive dishes. The box juice can be replaced by a natural one (made from scratch at home or bought ready-made, in case there is no time to prepare it) or by water; industrialized sweets should give way to fruits and homemade sweets and snacks, vegetables and home-made sandwiches, with ingredients of known origin.

Another good idea is, at least twice a week, to go beyond the snack idea and include in the lunch box foods that children eat easily, such as pasta and meatballs. And of course, a cookie here and a ready-made muffin there is not the end of the world – as long as you pay attention to the ingredients, as mentioned above.

Sonaira points out that it is essential to pay this attention to food for children because “world data on childhood obesity are alarming. The World Obesity Federation already estimates that the number of overweight children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years should jump from 220 to 268 million in less than a decade – and, of these, 91 million will be obese”.

With all that in mind, get inspired below with 10 images of healthy lunch boxes that don’t take a lot of work to prepare. Note that using containers with internal divisions and silicone cupcake molds makes it easier to distribute the portions. Invest in some of these accessories to organize your lunch box from the inside. 🇧🇷