• Breakfast shake: Combine milk, fruit, and ice in a blender.
• Frozen banana: Dip a banana in yogurt, then roll it in crushed cereal. Freeze.
• Leftovers: Serve whole-wheat spaghetti or chicken hot or cold.
• Peanut butter snack: Spread peanut butter on whole-wheat crackers, a tortilla, apple slices, or jicama slices. (See “Safety Check.”)

• Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into fun, interesting shapes.
• Decorate lunch bags with colorful stickers.
• Put a new twist on a sandwich favorite. Top peanut butter with raisins, bananas, or apple slices.
• For color and crunch, use a variety of veggies as “sandwich toppers”: cucumber slices, grated carrots, or zucchini.

• Boost the nutritional value of prepared dishes with extra ingredients. Add nonfat dry milk to cream soups, milkshakes, and puddings. Mix grated zucchini and carrots into quick breads, muffins, meatloaf, lasagna, and soups.
• Serve a food your child enjoys along with a food that he or she has refused to eat in the past.
• Try serving a food again if it was refused before. It may take many tries before a child likes it.
• Invite children to help with food preparation. It can make eating a food more fun.
• Add eye appeal. Cut foods into interesting shapes. Create a smiling face on top of a casserole with cheese, vegetables, or fruit strips.
• Set a good example by eating well yourself. Ideally, eat at least one meal together as a family every day or try for 3 to 4 times per week.

Safety Check

Food safety: Remember 2 important rules to prevent food-borne illness.

1. Everyone should wash their hands well before and after meals.
2. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

When there’s no refrigerator to store a bag lunch, the following are ways to keep food safe:

• Tuck an ice- or freezer-pack into the lunch bag. Or use an insulated container to keep hot foods hot.
• Add a box of frozen 100% fruit juice (unsweetened).
• Freeze the sandwich bread and filling - or other freezable foods - the night before.

Choking hazards: Do not feed children younger than 4 round, firm food unless it is chopped completely. The following foods are choking hazards: nuts and seeds; chunks of meat or cheese; hot dogs; whole grapes; fruit chunks (such as apples); popcorn; raw vegetables; hard, gooey, or sticky candy; and chewing gum. Peanut butter can be a choking hazard for children younger than 2.

Peanut allergies: If your child has food allergies, or is diagnosed with peanut or tree nut allergies, avoid nuts and any food that contains or is made with nut products. If nuts are to be eaten away from home, check to make sure there are no children present with nut allergies.

Published online: 9/08
Source: What's to Eat? Healthy Foods for Hungry Children (Copyright © 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics)

Healthcare professionals may order this publication in multi-copy packs.
Parents can find more information on this topic in Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5 to 12. To order a copy of this book visit the AAP Bookstore.

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The information contained in this publication should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.