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JANET K. KEELERIn busy households, the battle for healthy lunch boxes is often surrendered. But a little extra time, effort and coaxing can win the day.
Getting your child to eat what's packed in his lunch box is something like asking for a raise at work.
You make your case, then follow it with gentle pleading. Still, you might not get what you want.
With the school bell ringing all over the Tampa Bay area this month, parents who weren't packing lunches for summer camps will be back in the kitchen, stuffing insulated bags with all sorts of yummy things. Or so they think.
There's a good chance that their good intentions will end up in the garbage can.
"If I give her something healthy, she'll just throw it away," says Bill Cahill of Holiday, who has spent the summer packing lunches for his daughter Dezerae, 5, who starts kindergarten this month. "If you don't keep it to what they're interested in eating, they won't eat it."
Cahill, an account manager at Tlati Inc., a travel incentive company in Tarpon Springs, knows his daughter needs to eat fruits and vegetables, which she does when she is home and is encouraged. It's tougher, though, when she's in a less-supervised situation, he says.
Cahill, like many parents, buys convenience items, such as Lunchables, even though he knows every dietitian screams about their high calorie, fat and sodium content. "I try to limit them to twice a week," he says.
There's no easy answer, but with concerns about rising obesity rates among children and poor nutrition habits in general, it's a topic on many parents' minds.
Ingenuity, planning and a stiff spine is what you'll need to keep your child on track even when she's not eating under your watchful eye. That said, you can expect that she'll snub some of what you pack and still hanker for white-bread sandwiches, chips and cookies. To drink? You vote milk, she's thinking soda.
Leanne Ely was a nutrition zealot when she wrote Healthy Foods: An Irreverent Guide to Understanding Nutrition and Feeding Your Family Well (Storey Books, $19.95). Many of her recipes called for organic sweeteners and flours that required a trip to the health food store.
She's not exactly over it, but as her children got older - they are now 14 and 12 - she learned a lesson about peer pressure.
"If you don't allow your child to buy lunch at least once a week, it's like sending them to a party with tofu dogs," she says by phone from her North Carolina home. "Who's the weirdo?"
Though she has learned to bend a little (every 10th loaf of bread purchased is white; the others are whole grain), Ely remains horrified at reports of what some children take to school for lunch. (Others might be equally appalled by the good stuff that gets tossed out.)
"Kids are having candy bars and cookies, and the closest thing to fruit is a fruit roll-up," she says. "And soda, diet or regular, what's the point? Children need hydration. Soda is a recreational beverage that is fine as a treat."
Well, maybe she hasn't lightened up much. And maybe that's not a bad thing.
But where does that leave those of us who didn't wean our children on soy milk and succumbed to the lure of Skippy and Jif rather than buying natural peanut butters?
"I did it right, and I still have to deal with peer pressure," Ely says. "They want to fit in and be like their friends. I have to let the rest go; they are going to go to a friend's house and eat Doritos until they can't see."
Take baby steps, Ely suggests. The first week, replace sugary drinks with 100 percent juice or even bottled water. Once the lack-of-sugar shock has subsided, try to slip in a whole-grain starch. And so on.
You have to be tough, she says. They'll thank you later, she hopes.
The produce section is full of fresh convenience items such as individually sized packets of carrots and apple slices. Take advantage of them, Ely says.
Here are some other suggestions for packing lunches for kids:
* Know your child. If he will eat only half a sandwich, send only half. There's no point in wasting food. Also, ask your child to bring home everything he doesn't eat. Impress on him that he won't be in trouble but that it's important for you to know what he liked and didn't. Make sure you know how much time he has for lunch; sometimes kids eat fast because they want to socialize. A lunch that has to be assembled may not be eaten.
* Rabbit food. Try to pack fruit and vegetables in some form. Fruit cups and applesauce, no sugar added, and fresh fruit are palatable to many children. Keep trying until you find a fruit your child will eat. Because school starts in August, cherries, strawberries, peaches, plums and nectarines are plentiful. How about fruit kabobs?
Veggies may be a tougher sell. Put tomatoes on sandwiches; offer raw celery, carrots, broccoli or cucumber slices with dip; pack vegetable soup in a Thermos. If there are vegetables your child eats at home, why not send them at lunch? Asparagus spears and long green beans can easily be eaten by hand.
* Think outside PB&J. Leftover pizza or baked chicken, salads (pack dressing separately), cheese and crackers, bagels and cream cheese, hummus and pita chips, deviled eggs, cottage cheese and fruit, potato salad with ham, rice salad with chicken, meatballs in marinara or even sausage and peppers can be sent to school for a child who likes those foods.
Insulated bags with ice packs and thermal containers keep food appropriately cold and hot.
* Do a taste test. Be firm with your lunchers about eating more healthfully but include them in some of the decisions. Have a tasting of whole grain breads to determine which one they like best. Do the same with yogurts and dried fruits. Let them decide, but guide them in the right direction.
* Baking day. Homemade banana bread or blueberry muffins are a better treat than Twinkies, but finding the time to bake can be difficult. See if you and your children can squeeze in a couple of evenings a month to bake two types of goodies. They can be frozen and packed later. Besides, all that measuring hones math skills, plus you score points for together-time.
Wholesome foods, including complex carbohydrates, keep children - and adults - satisfied longer. That's good news for parents whose ravenous children are in high-pitched whining mode on the ride home from school. A sugary midday meal will be long gone by 3 p.m., but a more balanced meal with protein and carbohydrates will stick.
Yes, it takes more time to pack a variety of good foods. But aren't your kids worth it?
Janet K. Keeler can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com