4 Healthy Foods to Pack in Your Kid's Lunchbox (Page 4)

For Lunch: Chocolate Milk

During childhood and adolescence, the body uses calcium to build strong bones—a process that's all but complete by the end of the teen years. Yet most kids (adults too, actually) don’t get their recommended daily dose of calcium or vitamin D. Serving your kid milk—plain or chocolate—with lunch is a great way to get more of both of those nutrients. In fact, research shows that children who drink milk at lunch are the only ones who come close to meeting their daily calcium recommendations. And despite all those chocolate milk naysayers, compared to kids who drink plain milk, children who drink flavored milk consume more milk overall (both unflavored and flavored) and fewer soft drinks and sweetened fruit drinks. Plus, there is no difference in the BMI (Body Mass Index) of children who drink flavored milk compared with plain milk or nonmilk drinkers. Is your kid not a milk drinker? Try low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese instead.

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