Healthy lunchbox ideas and nutrition tips for families
A healthy lunch gives children the energy they need to learn, play and stay active throughout the day. Our lunchbox guides have been developed to help families provide balanced, nutritious lunches for children attending early years settings and primary schools across Torbay.
If you would like practical support with feeding your family, Early Start Nutrition's Family Nutrition Courses provide evidence-based advice to help parents and carers build healthy eating habits, manage fussy eating, introduce new foods with confidence, and create positive mealtime experiences. The courses offer simple, realistic strategies designed to support families with children of all ages and are free of charge. These courses can be accessed via Family Nutrition - Early Start Nutrition.
Looking for lunchbox inspiration? Healthy lunchboxes do not need to be complicated or expensive. Simple changes and a variety of foods can help keep lunches interesting whilst providing children with the energy and nutrients they need to learn, play and stay active throughout the day. The lunchbox guides include practical ideas to help families mix and match foods from the different food groups, and the resources below offer additional meal ideas, recipes, healthy swaps and top tips for creating nutritious lunchboxes and snacks
All children aged 5 to 7 are eligible for free school meals, and some older children may qualify through benefit-related free school meals. Families can find out more at www.torbay.gov.uk/fsm
If you're pregnant or have a child under 4 years old, you may be eligible for support through the NHS Healthy Start scheme. Healthy Start provides a prepaid card to help families buy fruit, vegetables, milk, infant formula and pulses, as well as access to free Healthy Start vitamins. Eligible families can check whether they qualify and apply online. Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start) - NHSBSA
Torbay Food Alliance brings together local organisations working to improve access to affordable, healthy and sustainable food across Torbay. The Alliance can help families find local food support, community food projects, advice on reducing food costs and opportunities to access healthy food within their community. Torbay Food Alliance