Reception Class packed lunches

A staggering five million children's lunchboxes are prepared in British homes every weekday, yet a Food Standards Agency survey discovered that three out of four of these were likely to contain foods that were too high in saturated fat, salt or sugar

Almost half of these lunches failed to include any fruit. Most of them, though, did include crisps, chocolate, biscuits, sugary drinks and other heavily processed snacks.

A diet that's high in fat, salt, and refined carbohydrates greatly reduces your child's mental alertness and ability to concentrate at school. A child eating these kinds of foods is also likely to end up tired towards the end of the day and grumpy, especially when school is such a new experience.

Packing a healthy lunchbox when your child starts school will really help to improve your child's attention span well into the afternoon. At the same time you want to prepare a lunch box that is easy for little ones to nibble and digest.

If you are stuck for ideas on how to provide your child with a healthy packed lunch (that they will actually eat) here are a few ideas to get them tucking in: