Tots to Teens: Keeping them fuelled up all day long
To Healthily Big Eating Dairy Week Pangs The With Your During And Council Hunger At Their E Keep School Recipes National Excellent Up Bay Some Kids’ Busy Has
It’s back to school week and that means it’s back to making lunches and feeding ravenous kids at all times of the day.
Teens can be particularly hard to keep full and with this in mind the National Dairy Council has come up with some excellent recipes to keep your big kids’ hunger pangs at bay during their busy school week.
Dr Yvonne Finnegan, NDC consultant nutritionist and mother of two teens says: “As teenagers may be preparing their own lunches, we can tend to leave them to it but it’s important to check in from time to time and subtly nudge this age group towards healthy choices. It is particularly important to ensure they are covering all the key food groups. Practical things like checking they still like the same foods, exploring new sandwich fillers and getting them involved in food shopping is a good place to start”.
Typically, a packed school lunch should contain all of the major food groups, some guidelines below:
1. One portion of starchy carbohydrate (wholegrain bread, pittas and wraps, brown rice/pasta). An additional portion as part of an after-school snack if staying on late
2. One portion of meat or meat alternative (chicken, fish, egg, pulses)
3. Ideally two portions of dairy (yogurt, cheese) to help reach five a day for teens
4. One or more portions of vegetables (carrot sticks, peppers, sweetcorn, lettuce, onion)
5. One or more portions of fruit (apple, orange, banana, pear, kiwi)
Find more teen inspiration on www.ndc.ie
For smaller kids, Siobhan Berry of @mummycooks on Instagram has great ideas for school lunches for little ones and advice on what to feed your family. Her recipes are easy to follow and crowd pleasers. There are also lots of healthy snack ideas for when the children tumble through the doors, starving after a busy day in school.
Starting school is a huge milestone in every family and these personalised prints by Irish business Imprint Illustration are a gorgeous way to mark the big occasion. They cost €24, come framed and make a wonderful memento for your own big boy or girl or a lovely gift for a special child in your life. See the full collection on @imprintillustration on Instagram.
Back to school can be a time of heightened anxiety for children and any opportunity to remind them how brilliant they are should be taken. The Good Glow Guidance Cards for Kids is an illustrated pack of 30 cards that encourages inspiration for kindness, joy and self-love.
Statements such as ‘Sharing your worry makes it go away in a hurry’ and ‘Nobody else can be you, and that’s your superpower’, the cards are a lovely way to boost confidence at this tricky time. Choose a card last thing at night for sweet dreams or first thing in the morning to start the day off on the right note.
The cards are made in Ireland and cost €23.95. See www.thegoodglow.ie
Hand in hand with going back to school come all the activities that keep parents busy. With so much going on trying to find all the equipment that goes with each new sporting passion can feel like a full-time job. Decathlon Ireland has an enormous selection of sportswear from football kits to gymnastics uniforms on its website. It also has the school commute covered with bikes, scooters, high-vis vests and all-weather gear – essential for Ireland.
Shop the full range at www.decathlon.ie