During a normal school year, packing a lunch box can be an occasional ordeal and school lunch plans usually suffice, providing conveniently nutritious choices for children. However, under the current COVID lens of prioritized cleanliness, social distancing and online learning, cafeterias have become congested relics of the past. As tumbleweeds bowl through empty school eateries, parents are now more involved in their children’s dietary routines. This sudden chef promotion has thrown parents into the deep end of their child’s nutrition supervision.

  What can seem like added parental strain during a year of relentless anxiety, is actually a disguised opportunity to cut down on surging sickness stress this winter. This new direct awareness of children’s eating habits can grant parents the power to healthily guide their kids’ cravings during a stressful flu season. There are several quick-fix foods that can be incorporated into kids’ school snacks to conveniently bolster their immune systems.    

  An easy addition of fruits and vegetables into your youngins’ midday feast can be a casual solution to establishing a balanced diet. Carrots, watermelon, tomatoes and oranges are ripe with immune boosting ingredients called carotenoids. Simply put, these properties can benefit white blood cell creation to fight off blooming infections. Indoor family incarceration provides the perfect time to discipline stubborn palettes of broccoli phobia. This patient stretch of pandemic life can give time for kids’ taste buds to acclimate to vilified vegetables and build healthy eating habits.

  Yogurt can be another easy sell for kids, combining the carotenoid benefits of fruits and the probiotic benefits of dairy. Strawberries are a particularly prime topping, deliciously sweet while chock full of antioxidants and Vitamin C to establish a flu fighting foundation. As a colorfully appetizing treat, yogurt can catch the eyes of young ones and reduce risks for contracting colds, ear infections and strep throat. Yogurt is also a versatile snack that can be served with cereals, whole grains, pancakes and smoothies to keep repeated meals refreshing.

  Almonds are a rich resource of Vitamin E and manganese, both effective enhancers of immune functions. Walnuts also serve as edible rewards, producing omega-3 fatty acids to add to the body’s bacterial brigade of illness and infection fighters. These nutritious nuts could also be used as yogurt toppings to create an effective immunity combo and effectively substituted with almond milk for smoothies or cereal. 

  Alleviate stress of this daily kitchen conquest, become a confident pantry parent and ensure your child’s consistent health throughout the upcoming flu season. Now can be a great time to positively spin this new normal of parental cheffing and establish a healthy cookbook for constructive childhood contagion combatants.

Editor: Dean Sekol