Think Bigg

Now that kids are back to school, it may be time to reconsider what you’re sending in their lunch bags. With an estimated 17 percent of kids overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control, teaching good eating habits must begin at a very early age.

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According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer,

Water and fruit may be important, but the building blocks of a healthful lunch are carbohydrates, not the white kind, but the complex ones, according to Berkeley’s Cooper.

Then parents can load those grain breads and pitas with healthy peanut butter, other nut butters, turkey and other protein sources. Of course, nutritionists suggest tossing in fruits, vegetables and dips.

What goes between the bread is critical, says the UW Medical Center’s Simon. She encourages people to focus on buying quality meats and chicken, then using it in sandwiches, rather than slapping in lunchmeats.

Fat isn’t always the enemy, Simon says, noting that there is good fat in nuts and hummus.

And next time you head to the grocery store, don’t forget to take along the EWR’s free guide to Pesticides in Produce! It turns out that conventional apples — a lunchtime staple for my mom’s brown bag lunches — have the second highest pesticide load of any fruit or vegetable except peaches.

Leaving an apple for the teacher suddenly got a lot more complicated…

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