How to Upgrade Your Child's Lunchbox

As much as it pains me to acknowledge it, summer is coming to an end: School starts for us in just two weeks. So now's as good a time as any to focus our collective attention on a quintessential back-to-school symbol, the lunchbox.

While the National School Lunch Program gets loads of press, about 40 percent of elementary school kids still bring a packed lunch to school. However, until a recent spate of research investigated what was being packed in and consumed from these lunches, the proverbial brown bag was a proverbial black box. We're now getting a clearer picture of what goes into lunches that we parents control, and we've learned that they're not nearly as balanced or nutritious as the offerings from our much-maligned National School Lunch Program. In other words, it's time for us parents to upgrade the contents of our kids' packed lunches.

Kristie Hubbard (a registered dietitian with a PhD and MPH) and her team out of Tufts analyzed more thanr 620 packed lunches brought by elementary school kids in Massachusetts. They found that home-packed lunches were very heavily skewed toward carby foods -- typically from sandwiches, salty snacks/chips, desserts and/or sugary drinks -- and virtually devoid of fiber-rich vegetables and protein-rich dairy foods. The authors concluded that kids who brought lunch from home consumed more calories, less fiber and fewer fruits and veggies compared to kids who ate a school lunch -- and they also were more likely to have a sugar-sweetened drink or high sugar snack. Similar findings emerged from a dissertation study of about 350 elementary and middle school students in Texas conducted by Michelle Caruso at the University of Texas' School of Public Health, as well as from a 2012 study of more than 2,100 suburban second graders' lunches from researchers at Baylor College of Medicine.

[Read: Why Kids Are Eating Fewer School Meals and Wasting More .]

As a working mom, I get it: Packing school lunches is a chore, and tossing in a bag of chips and 100-calorie pack of cookies alongside a sandwich is generally the path of least resistance. Economy-minded parents may feel that the expense of packing perishables like a baggie of baby carrots or the effort of slicing other vegetables would be wasted, given the likelihood that these foods might go uneaten. And yet, Caruso's research showed that about 18 percent of packed veggies were wasted in the lunches reviewed ... meaning that 82 percent of the packed vegetables were actually eaten! (I don't know about any of you, but I'd be pretty psyched if my kids ate more than 80 percent of the vegetables I served them.) In other words, while there's still the possibility your kids won't eat healthy foods if you do pack them, it's more likely that they will eat at least some of them -- and its guaranteed they won't eat any if you don't pack them at all.

If you're a lunchbox-weary parent looking for some healthy inspiration as we embark upon a new school year, consider some of these nut-free ideas to help upgrade the quality of your kiddo's lunch:

Think outside the sandwich. Sandwiches are the most common lunchbox item, appearing in 59 percent of home-packed lunches, according to Hubbard's study. But there are plenty of other lunchbox-friendly entrée items worth adding to the rotation, such as: a couple hard-boiled eggs? Boiled, shelled edamame? A plain 4-ounce baby yogurt accompanied by a buffet of favorite mix-ins (grape nuts cereal, blueberries a honey packet)? If your child likes cottage cheese, pack a 4-ounce snack size as their protein with a side of pineapple tidbits to mix in. Leftover pancakes are also quite tasty for lunch; try spiking a batch of pancakes made from store-bought whole grain mix with 1/4 cup canned pumpkin and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Batch-cooked pancakes freeze well and can be rationed out as needed for school lunches.

[Read: How to Make a Healthy, Tasty Sandwich .]

Include a vegetable. According to the research, only about 11 to 13 percent of packed lunches even contain a vegetable, so this is arguably where typical brown-bagged lunches fall the shortest. I know plenty of school children who will happily eat baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, jicama or mini-peppers if served with a lunchbox-friendly 2-ounce single serve container of hummus, a packet of ranch dressing or some salsa. But if your kiddo isn't one of them, there are still plenty of other ways to include a vegetable with lunch. How about: pureeing some jarred, roasted red peppers with creamy goat cheese or packing avocado cubes doused in lime juice to spread on mini-Triscuits? Making mini Caprese salad kebobs on party toothpicks with grape tomatoes and mozzarella balls? Picking up some veggie sushi rolls at your local supermarket and packing a few assorted pieces for lunch? Offering dry roasted seaweed sheets as a snack? A favorite veggie burger or sweet potato pancake may also be an appealing option as a veggie-heavy sandwich replacement (I recommend the Dr. Praeger's brand).

[Read: Creative Vegetable Accounting .]

Achieve crunchy and salty without chips. Dry roasted chickpeas, soy "nuts," roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds are all nutrient-dense upgrades to typical salty snacks -- and they can often even be found in familiar seasoned varieties to facilitate a gradual transition away from chips. One of my go-to kid snacks is a homemade, nut-free trail mix with a combination of these ingredients, plus a sprinkle of raisins or dried cranberries and a pinch of semi-sweet chocolate chips for just a hint of contrasting sweetness. Unlike empty-calorie chips or pretzels, these salty, crunchy snacks deliver essential vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and the higher-quality kind of slow-digesting carbs that won't lead to a blood sugar crash after lunch.

[Read: Healthy Snacks for When You Feel Hangry .]

Go for the cute factor. I wish I were the kind of mom creative enough to craft the adorable Bento-style lunches I see on Pinterest, but alas, I am not. Still, there are plenty of simple ways to deliver irresistible cuteness to a lunchbox that make mundane healthy staples feel special. Pack a few hard-boiled quail eggs instead of a regular-sized hard-boiled egg (but peel them first -- the shells are a bit delicate for children!). Pack a mini banana and a donut peach instead of regular-sized fruit. Pack two slider-sized sandwiches in mini-pitas or mini-buns (different varieties?) instead of one large sandwich. Toss in a few cornichons alongside a turkey sandwich for deli-inspired flair. Use decorative plastic party toothpicks from your local party store to create mini-kebabs using fruit, veggies, baked tofu, cubed sweet potato, leftover falafel balls and/or cheese cubes.

You can also stockpile ketchup, mustard, ranch dressing and honey packets from local restaurants or diners; these can add just the right garnish to many of the healthy lunchbox items suggested above. Or order single-serve packets of nutritious, nut-free spreads online -- such as sunflower seed butter or the Sneaky Chef's incredibly yummy " No Nut butter" made from golden peas -- they're great paired with a mini banana, apple slices, baby carrots, whole-grain crackers or soy crisps, and the DIY aspect makes it seem more special than if they were just spread on a sandwich.

[Read: Tasty, Healthy Ways to Use Raw Cacao .]

Finally, a word on food safety. If your child's lunchbox contains perishable items that require refrigeration -- such as cold cuts, tofu, yogurt, bean-based veggieburgers, eggs or tuna salad -- be sure to use an insulated lunchbag with icepack(s) to keep food at an appropriately safe temperature until they're ready to be eaten.

The author has no material affiliations with any of the companies whose products are mentioned in this article.

Tamara Duker Freuman, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian whose NYC-based clinical practice specializes in digestive disorders, celiac Disease, and food intolerances. Her personal blog, www.tamaraduker.com, focuses on healthy eating and gluten-free living.