Planning and Shopping for a Week's Worth of Healthy Lunches

Teaching kids to eat healthfully starts with smart shopping.

Snack-food aisle:

This can be a tough aisle with all the options out there: a zillion potato chips, pizza-flavored tortilla chips and sugar-laden cookies and bars—with new ones filling the shelves every day. Weeding out the good from the bad is a challenge but here are some tips to get you started:

Go for baked instead of fried potato chips or corn chips.

Limit portion size—a 1-ounce portion is plenty.

Avoid trans fats—you’ll find it on the nutrition label.

Chose whole-wheat pretzels or crackers over non-whole-grain varieties.

Grab some all-natural granola bars as well; look for ones that contain whole grains, nuts, seeds and pieces of dried fruit.

Next: Frozen Section »