Back to School- Healthy Choices?

Hopefully, your kids are settling into school seamlessly.

Do you send them with breakfast or lunch to school or have them purchased at school?

Looking at the school menu, the lunch options are usually are pizza, pasta, a hot or cold sandwich, different salads, burgers, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, hot dogs.

Salads appear to be the healthiest choice.

Assorted fruits and vegetables are normally offered daily.

Most options are loaded with carbs which break down into sugar which is inflammatory and can affect your child’s attention and behavior.

Try and have them avoid the ultra-processed foods such as snacks – cookies, chips, candy and eliminate drinks such as soda, juice, and energy drinks containing high fructose corn syrup and excessive caffeine.

Special diets such as gluten free casein free are difficult to implement when purchased through school.

The other factor is food is typically cooked in vegetable oils or canola oil which are highly inflammatory.

Some students are also eating breakfast at school where the options are hot bagel sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, waffles, donut holes, pancake bites, sugary cereals, pop tarts, cinnamon rolls- loaded with refined carbs and sugar!

Most of our kids will not choose eggs or salads daily making purchasing healthy options from school quite a challenge.

I find shopping with the kids and having them help choose the healthy options will train the palate to eat real food to provide them with the nourishment so vital to optimizing their emotional and physical health.

Nutrition is a major area of focus of our Autism Healing Program where we see dramatic improvement.

We want to empower families with all the tools necessary to make sustainable gains towards achieving recovery.

Our back-to-school 15% discount is being extended through Sunday, September 17.

Here is a link to learn more about the program: https://www.myhopewellness.com/autism-healing.

Please contact me with any questions.

#autism #schoollunch