It’s back to school time! Families are squeezing in their last-minute vacations and shopping for school supplies, but the school bell is just ahead. This year, make a fresh start with healthy foods to help your child grow and flourish throughout the entire school year. Here are five tips to keep in mind as you think about meals, food, nutrition, and health for the back to school season.

 

1.  Don’t let your kids skip breakfast.

Whenever you skip a meal, you deprive your body of essential nutrients and calories. A missed meal is especially rough on children’s bodies. During childhood, the body and mind need the consistent provision of good nutrition in order to function properly. Start your child’s day off strong with a healthy breakfast, even if it’s a smoothie on the run.

 

2.  Prepare an emergency pack.

Take special care when getting ready for the back to school season for children with diabetes. He or she should be outfitted with an emergency pack. Include items such as oral medication, insulin, insulin delivery supplies, lancets, extra batteries and quick-acting source of glucose. You may also wish to have a conversation with the child’s teacher regarding his or her health situation.

 

3.  Go with packing a lunch.

Sending your child off to school using the school’s meal plan is obviously the easiest and most convenient way to go, but is it the best? In the majority of U.S. schools, the food provided is not as healthy as it should be. Unless you are confident of the nutritional value and quality of the menu, you should pack a lunch for your children. Keep the menu varied, and include foods like fresh veggies and fruit, legumes (hummus, beans, peas), nuts and seeds, organic nitrate-free sandwich meats, and whole grains. Instead a sugary soft drink, select fruit juice with no added sugar or water.

 

4.  Encourage water intake.

You aren’t shadowing your child around school all day, but it doesn’t hurt to provide a bit of encouragement and advice here and there. One of the best bits of encouragement is in the area of water intake. Children with diabetes should be especially careful to keep their water intake high. Encourage your child to bring a refillable water bottle with filtered water from home.

 

5.  Provide an After-School Snack

A healthy snack is a great welcome-home after a hard day at school. Skip the traditional milk and cookies, and go for fresh fruit, fruit salad, or a veggie tray. Fight the temptation to get processed foods since they may contain artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners (not to mention the hydrogenated fat, salt, and sugar content). Studies also show that food coloring and other additives can produce hyperactivity and other detrimental side effects.

 

Maintaining a healthy back-to-school diet isn’t something you can buy on sale during the weekend, or stock up on right before school starts. It’s the daily challenge of preparing meals, encouraging good eating, and providing the right kind and amount of foods. As mentioned above, healthy back-to-school nutrition is the best thing you can do for your child as he/she takes off in the morning. It’s rewarding, too. Just about as rewarding as A’s on a report card. And with better nutrition, you may see a few of those, too.