Keeping Healthy at School

Healthy Habits at School

Eating a healthy breakfast and packing a healthy lunch are the best ways to make sure you have the energy you need to get through a busy school day. Sometimes you might like to eat lunch from the school tuck-shop. It’s good to know which school tuck-shop foods and drinks are healthy to help make healthy choices.

Choosing healthy food from the school Tuck-shop

Here are some healthy school tuck-shop/cafeteria options and ideas. Healthy food includes salad and lean chicken or beef, fish, eggs or lentils. Here are some healthy hot food options:

• fresh soups with whole meal samosas
• mixed bean/lentil
• vegetable, chicken or beef curry with rice

If you want to get a snack from the school tuck-shop/cafeteria, choose options like these:

• fruit salads or whole fruit
• reduced-fat yoghurt and fruit
• air-popped popcorn (not cooked in oil)
• vegetables, boiled eggs
• raisin or fruit bread

It’s a good idea to pack a bottle with water for you to drink and refill throughout the day. This is always healthier and cheaper than buying drinks from the school tuck-shop. If you want to buy a drink at the tuck-shop, choose water or fresh juices.

Unhealthy school tuck-shop food and drinks

Certain foods have high amounts of sugar, saturated fat and salt. You see them on a lot of school tuck-shops/cafeteria. These foods aren’t healthy for you. They can give you short energy boost that can leave you feeling tired for the rest of the day. They can also lead to unhealthy weight gain if you eat too much of them.

• all deep-fried foods, including chips etc
• hot pastries, pies, cakes, donuts, chocolates and sweets
• flavored water, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavored milks, fruit juice
• coffee drinks and coffee-flavored milk drinks