School Lunches for Healthy Teeth

Packing a healthy lunch for your kids may sound easy, but did you know that some fruits, milk, cereals, bread and vegetables contain sugars and / or starches? A healthy and balanced diet is essential to maintaining good oral health. Foods containing carbohydrates and sugars come in contact with the germs and bacteria in our mouth that cause plaque.
Plague thrives on the starches and sugars that are found in a great deal of foods. When plaque combines with the sugars and starches, an acid is produced that attacks tooth enamel and eventually causes decay. According to the American Dental Association, the acid attacks the teeth for 20 minutes or more.

A healthy school lunch can help maintain good oral health and establish good nutritional habits in kids and teenagers. The following tips can help you learn how to prepare a lunch that best meets your child’s dental and nutritional needs.

Daily Nutritional Needs

Nutritional needs of children vary with age and sex. The Food Pyramid, provided by the USDA, allows you to input the sex and age of your child to determine his or her average daily nutritional requirements, so that you can easily plan a healthy lunch menu. Below, you can see how the daily nutritional needs of an 8-year-old boy differ from that of a 15-year-old girl, according to the Food Pyramid.

Daily nutritional needs of an 8-year-old boy:

5 ounces of grains

1.5 cups of vegetables

1.5 cups of fruit

2 cups of milk

4 ounces of meat and beans

Daily nutritional needs of a 15-year-old girl:

6 ounces of grains

2.5 cups of vegetables

1.5 cups of fruit

3 cups of milk

5 ounces of meat and beans