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With the summer heat still lingering, it’s time for children to leave the pools and head back to classrooms. The new school year is about to begin, which also means parents are going to face the most challenging task – to keep their kids’ lunch healthy and interesting! While eating lunch with friends is an important social activity, its core function is nutrition. Melissa Nazareth talks to Bahraini and expatriate parents, students and experts about how they plan this important meal of the day and their views on it.
Bahraini health and fitness enthusiast and mum-of-one Dana Zubari has experienced a positive result, getting her daughter Layla Khonji, aged 11, involved in the process.
“I used to pack strawberries for her but she would get them back and when I spoke to her, she said she doesn’t enjoy eating them. It’s important to have a dialogue with your child,” noted the 42-year-old sportswear company co-owner, adding that she also gets her daughter to make her own lunches sometimes.
“We make sushi rolls with smoked or cooked salmon, avocado, cucumber, seaweed and rice in the morning, which is fun for her.”
According to Al Hilal Muharraq branch dietician Sherin Rennie, involving children in the process of decision-making can be a good way to ensure they eat healthy.
“Let your children choose the fruit you pack or the sandwich fillings. They are more likely to eat what they helped prepare,” she explained.
Dana has encouraged her daughter to eat healthy from a young age and believes that food need not come out of a packet to be tasty and interesting.
“My daughter enjoys rice and different curries that I pack in a thermos. It’s wholesome and more satiating given that she is moving around and mentally active for long hours at school.
“I have always made it a point to serve my daughter whatever the adults cook and eat at home. My mother introduced her to diverse vegetables and ingredients as a baby, sometimes mashing them up so she gets acclimatised to the taste,” the Saar resident noted.
Seven-year-old Christopher Mumm doesn’t enjoy eating home-cooked food, like rice balls stuffed with meat or pasta, at school as it’s not warm enough to enjoy, said American expatriate and mother Claire Mumm, adding that she packs a sandwich for him along with other healthy snacks.
“He loves carrots and cucumbers, so he gets those. I add the puffed-up lotus seeds that I pick up from the Indian store as a snack, plus fruits.
“My son also travels by bus and has motion sickness, so he gets a small pack of chips as a treat, which he carries with him and eats only in the bus,” said the Umm Al Hassam resident.
Claire doesn’t mind her son enjoying the occasional burger, but believes that it’s important to teach children the value of good nutrition. She plans her purchases a month ahead as it’s more organised that way and also cheaper, and packs lunch the previous night to make it simpler.
Indian expatriate and mum-of-one Vigeesha ‘Vini’ Avinash has also found preparing meals the night before helpful, as her daughter Ruhaani Avinash, aged seven, catches the bus very early for school.
“I talk to her the previous night and ensure she knows what to expect, so there are no surprises,” said the Mahooz resident, who typically packs Indian traditional dishes or sandwiches with healthy fillings for lunch.
Sherin stressed that parents play a key role in shaping their child’s eating habits.
“A well-balanced school lunch not only fuels learning and concentration but also prevents common health issues,” she said.
“Calorie-dense food when combined with a sedentary lifestyle can lead to overweight problems or even obesity.”
According to a latest study by United Nations Children’s Fund in the Middle East, a staggering 55 million children in the region are overweight or obese and a further 24m children suffer from undernutrition.
“Poor dietary diversity and meal skipping, especially breakfast, causes undernutrition,” Sherin added.
“Diets high in refined carbohydrates provide calories but little iron and lack of Vitamin C, which helps boost iron absorption, can lead to iron deficiency,” the expert added.
GulfWeekly’s sister paper GDN earlier reported that the Health Ministry has completed evaluating the canteens at government schools as part of the ‘Food and Beverage Quality Improvement’ project. It’s an initiative focused on promoting students’ health by improving the quality of school meals through annual training workshops for school canteen contractors and health counsellors. It’s organised by the Health Ministry’s Nutrition Section.
Even some private schools have issued guidelines for parents to pack healthy lunches, with some having canteens that sell nutritional options.
However, there are schools that still need to implement the practice.
“Many of my friends don’t bring lunch because their parents don’t pack it for them,” said Filipino expatriate and high school student Reid Aydenn Huliganga.
“While our canteen offers tasty and healthy options, they’re expensive and so, they don’t end up buying lunch either, which means they remain hungry the whole day. It would really help to have subsidised lunches for students,” the 16-year-old said, adding that she prefers to get food from home, which usually includes some type of fruit, a sandwich or a traditional snack.
