Jude's lunchbox

What's in Jude's lunchbox?

Jude is three and a half years old and in his lunchbox is some tomato pasta with a sprinkling of cheese, cucumber and carrot sticks, popcorn and strawberries. Jude will have water with this.

What does the expert say?

Nutrition therapist Susan Hart gives this lunchbox four out of five, "This lunchbox has variety, a rainbow of colour and the portion size also looks right as it's not too big. It seems well-balanced and contains a number of the little boy's five-a-day."

A great rating, but are there any improvements that could improve the nutritional quality?

What swaps can be made?

For this particular meal, Susan suggests the following potential swaps:

• One thing you could do is make sure the pasta is wholemeal for even more fibre and use freshly grated cheese rather than ready grated.
• More points could be awarded if mushrooms, sweetcorn or courgette were included. If Jude is not veggie, add a bit of tuna to increase the protein.
• Also, go steady on the popcorn (10-12g serving). Even though it's lower in calories than many other treats, it still contains salt and/or sugar.

Further support

Visit our healthy eating for kids hub for more information and browse through our lunchbox ideas to get inspired. If you're looking for more guidance, you may want to consider working with a nutrition professional. They can help you create a meal plan catered to your child's specific needs and help them thrive.