As another term begins, talk of lunchboxes intensifies in the media. The socials are filled with images of picture-perfect lunchboxes, with conflicting messages of what we ‘should’ and ‘should not’ be including to feed the little people in our lives. Let’s consider for a moment approaching lunchbox talk from another angle, moving away from what’s in the lunchbox and towards creating a kind, inclusive and calm environment for children to develop.
“Just like learning to read or write, learning about food and eating is a gradual process that takes considerable time”, says Dietitian and Health Promotion Manager, Selena Gillham. Schools and early learning services provide a safe, stable and engaging environment for children to learn – it’s what schools and early learning services do best! Let’s explore this wonderful opportunity to support children as they learn about food and consider some simple actions schools and services can take for the year ahead – try the TICK approach.
1. T is for Time
The food, environment and the time provided for consuming food is all important for ensuring children have sufficient opportunity to eat and explore eating behaviours. Ellen Satter’s Division of Responsibility is a feeding model, designed to help younger children learn hunger and fullness cues with clear roles and responsibilities for children, parents and carers:
– The parent or carer is responsible for the what, when and where a child is fed.
– The child is always responsible for how much and whether to eat the food offered.
– The role of the school or early learning service in this instance is to support the when and where children eat.
Recent Australian research recommends children need at least 15 minutes to eat lunch or snacks before going out to play. Shorter breaks and time pressure to eat can negatively impact children’s food intake and eating patterns. In addition to reducing food waste, longer lunch breaks can increase intake of a variety of foods to support children’s learning and play. Providing a calm space for children to sit (whilst recognising that not all children will be able to remain seated) and at least 15 minutes to eat lunch and snacks can support growth, development and learning.
2. I is for Inclusive
Food choice is complex. There are a huge variety of factors that influence what children, parents and carers will pop into a lunchbox. Family, social and cultural values, budget, time, appetite, taste, allergies and neurodevelopmental factors can all play a part. Learning about different flavours and textures of foods takes time and some children may only have a small number of accepted foods. Neurodivergent children especially can be very specific about brands, shapes, colours and textures and some children may also be on medication that can suppress or increase their appetite.
When planning campaigns such as nude food, or fruit breaks for example, consider how this might impact children or families and how you could make these activities more inclusive. For example, fruit breaks could become brain breaks, with all snacks welcome. Nude food could be one optional activity of a larger school or early learning service campaign for reducing waste. For some families, fresh foods are unaffordable and providing packaged foods are the only foods that fit within their budget. Packaged foods may also be the only safe foods for some children. For those with a reduced appetite, packaged items can be put in the lunchbox day after day without wastage. School and early learning services can be overwhelming for many children and having something familiar and comforting to look forward to at snack time can make the day just that little bit easier. Meeting children where they are at and allowing children to eat without judgement can help children and families feel seen, heard and valued.
3. C is for Concrete
Up until late primary school age, children are concrete thinkers and activities that enable them to explore new concepts through their senses – sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste, will encourage learning and understanding.9 When teaching children about food and nutrition, concepts such as fibre, vitamins, ‘healthy’ and ‘everyday’ or ‘unhealthy’ and ‘sometimes’ foods for example, are abstract – they cannot be seen or touched and are difficult for younger children to understand. When food and drinks are given a moral value and labelled as good, bad, healthy or unhealthy, children may believe that ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ choices are made by bad or unhealthy people and feel guilt or shame about their food choices.
When learning or talking about foods, stick to the facts.
For example, if a child asks, “Is corn healthy?”
Your response could be, “It’s hard to work out what that means. Corn, just like chocolate, apples and bread are all different types of foods we could eat. Does anyone know where corn comes from? Corn is a vegetable that comes from a seed which is planted in the ground. The seed grows into a very tall stalk with the ears of corn attached. You can eat it fresh or cook it and eat it off the cob. You can buy it frozen in the shops or dried and use it to make popcorn. Do you like corn? What is your favourite way to eat corn? What does it taste like? What does it look like? Is it crunchy or juicy?”
Food literacy education that engages the senses, nurtures body trust, explores diversity and describes foods using neutral language can help establish positive attitudes and safe relationships with food.10
4. K is for Kind
Schools and early learning services play an important role in how children learn to feel and think about their bodies. The restriction of certain foods in school or early learning services lunchboxes (acknowledging the exception of allergens, such as nuts in some schools and services) can actually increase the desire for these types of foods. Supporting children to recognise internal hunger and fullness cues through access to a variety of foods, without restriction, can reduce the risk of disordered eating behaviours.
It is imperative that our school and early learning policies and learning environments are body kind, inclusive of all foods and nurture body trust. It is never too early to create an inclusive, nurturing and open-minded food environment.Review your school or service health and wellbeing policies to include guidance on implementing inclusive, body positive food and drink initiatives, consider how you communicate about lunchboxes and promoting a variety of foods without judgement and ensure that planning for school and early learning service food and drink campaigns and curriculum are age appropriate and inclusive.
Is your school or early learning service getting the lunchbox tick?
This blog was written by Anneliese Twigg Health Promotion Practitioner at Peninsula Health. If you would like free support or have any questions, please contact the Health Promotion Team at Peninsula Health at healthpromotion@phcn.vic.gov.au.
Downloadable resources:
Food Talk – Long Day Care Centres
