Myth: Bagged lunches are boring.

Answer: Busted

Just because it is a lunch from home doesn’t mean it can’t have some flare added. If your child complains about their lunch every day except on Lunchables day then some sprucing up can be done. First have your children help you pack their lunch. If children are involved in the decision making then they are more likely to eat it. Another idea is to have easy and fun foods available to choose from. Yogurt in a tube, string cheese, baby carrots and ranch dressing, exotic fruits like star-fruit and blood oranges are all fun to eat and nutritious.

Other ideas to pack a healthy sack lunch include:

• Use your old cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into fun shapes
• Make our own Lunchables meal. Cut deli meat and cheese to fit crackers and have your child assemble at school.

For more information on back-to-school nutrition, visit Missouri Families or MyPyramid.

Guest Contributor: Eva Hightaian, Nutrition Intern at the University of Missouri
Co-Author: Donna Mehrle, MPH, RD, LD, mehrled@missouri.edu, University of Missouri Extension