Lunch Boxes in Group Settings for Young Children

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Lunch Boxes in Group Settings for Young Children

• Janice Fletcher, Ed.D
• University of Idaho

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Lunch box meal service

• An attentive and intentional teacher sitting at
  the table is CRITICAL to keep children safe when
  they eat meals from
• lunch boxes

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Lunch box meal service

• When teachers sit with children at the table and
  work with children as they use their lunch boxes,
  they support childrens learning and help
  children feel secure

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Advantages of lunch box mealtimes for children

• Children are exposed to a variety of food from
  their own lunch box, and food other children
  bring for a meal in their lunch boxes
• Children own food from their lunch boxes,
  giving them intimate connections with home and
  family
• Children learn self-help skills for managing
  their food from the lunch box

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Advantages of lunch box mealtimes for families

• Families choose what a child is presented to eat
• Families know what a child eats at the child care
  program, which helps parents plan meals outside
  the child care hours
• Families may ease some guilt about leaving their
  child during the day by providing the food for
  their child

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Advantages of lunch box mealtimes for families

• Parents take ownership of the food in the lunch
  box, establishing a feeding connection between
  the child and the parents, even when they are
  apart
• Parents and child can work together to prepare
  the lunch box fare

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Advantages of lunch box mealtimes for program and
staff

• The center does not have to bear expense of menu
  planning, food, staff time for food preparation
  and clean up, or food service equipment
• Staff can choose what they want to bring to eat,
  rather than eating the same food as the children

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Disadvantages of Lunch Box Meal Service for
Children

• Children may lack skills for opening
• items and may have to wait for long periods
  before getting to their food
• Commonly offered lunch box foods are also common
  choking hazards (celery and carrot sticks,
  raisins, grapes, and apples)
• Packaging in lunch boxes, such as plastic bags
  and plastic wraps can be choking hazards

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Disadvantages of lunch box meal service for
children

• Unless a center offers refrigeration for lunch
  boxes, a childs exposure to food borne illness
  is increased for lunch box beverages and foods.
• Childrens lunch box contents are typically
  deficient in recommended daily allowances of
  nutrients and high in sodium, sugar, and fat
• Children miss opportunity to try new foods a
  program offers, which a family may not offer

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Disadvantages of lunch box meal service for
families

• It is time consuming to choose food for a lunch
  box that is free of choking hazards, food that is
  rich in nutrients, and food that is accepted by
  the child
• Parents must be sure that food is packed to
  discourage contamination and food borne
  illnessfirst at home in the packing of the
  food, and second at school in storage

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Disadvantages of lunch box meal service for
program and staff

• When a teacher has to open lunch items
• for many children, attention to other
• aspects of the mealtime environment will be
  lessened
• Wait time for children to get their mealtime
  needs met can be excessive as the teacher helps
  children get their food ready to eat. This
  detracts staff from the role of reassuring
  children and helping them make decisions about
  their food and how to eat it

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Disadvantages of lunch box meal service for
program and staff

• A program risks the possibility of food borne
  illness from inadequate heating of food from
  brought from home
• Unless a program offers refrigeration for lunch
  boxes, a childs exposure to food borne illness
  is increased for lunch box beverages and foods
• Staff must police lunch boxes for choking hazards
  and food contamination, lessening the time and
  attention they can give to helping children learn
  about food and eating.

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Choosing lunch box mealtime environments and
strategies

• Staff and administration, along with a parent
  advisory board, must have a serious discussion to
  determine concerns, strategies,
• barriers, and solutions for offering best
  practices when lunch boxes are used in
• group settings for young children

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Setting the lunch box mealtime environment

• Go to www.cals.uidaho.edu/feeding for handouts
  about lunch box meals for young children in group
  settings.