healthy lunch or not?

[welshandproud]

Marmite and toasted cheese on toast, with pineapple chunks, grapes and blueberries on the side?

I'm getting some stick from DP but it was wholemeal bread!!!Does this sound really unhealthy to you?

sounds good to me! pineapple, grapes AND blueberries - I'm jealous!
I don't eat marmite but apparently it's rich in B vitamins or something

It's very good in fact. There's carbs, protein, dairy and no less than 3 different fruits.

Under fives need full fats in their diets, how old is the diner in question?

Well, it sounds balanced, you've got protein there, fat, carbs, fibre, and your vitamins - quite high in salt though with marmite cheese and bread

what exactly is Dp's problem with it ?

Might be a bit high on salt and fat if it is an everyday meal - but fine if not.

DC are 3yrs and 19 months, Marmite was very thinly spread and cheese was quite light too you could still see the bread once it had toasted.

DP thinks it sounds hideous and very unhealthy. I guess he's referring to salt and fat then.

We dont have it often but its one of those things i can guarantee they eat and quickly. They need to nap by 1pm today to give them a good 2 hours before the school run.

I was feeling righteous as it was wholemeal bread this time, I wont tell him when i occasionally use white

White bread is better for young children actually - too much fibre is bad for them.

why doesn't he do the lunch then?!
Sounds good to me - mine always like a 'picnic' with lots of bits to eat.

Young children need low fibre and high fat. So cant see your dps problem.

So that was quite a fibre rich meal then with fruit and bread? I didn't realise white bread is better. i've always had it drummed into me that brown is best and i still feel guilty when i stray to the dark side and buy white!
To be fair he's in work and texted to find out how our day was going. He also hates marmite so that probably coloured his judgement.

thin marmite probably has much less salt than the cheese and bread - so I wouldn't worry about that. Cheese is fine for kids of that age - they need the fat. White bread is fine too - or half and half.

I think it was fine. As they get older cut back on the fat and move over to wholemeal - and you won't go far wrong.

Just be aware of the hidden salt in bread and cheese, and butter/marg etc.

The theory used to be that white bread was better- this was due to the fact that fibre is filling and that children need a high calorie diet for growth...his is what i learnt when training as a nurse 10 yrs ago- In fact opinion has now changed, and so have guidelines it is now rcccomended to use wholmeal/ brown bread as it contains all of the vitamins and minerals needed for growth.. also with recent increase in obesity in children it has been realised that they need whole grains for slow energy release.
It is completely true though that children under 5 need high fat diet s i wouldnt worry about this at all- cheese is a good source of protein and fat.
As a nutritional therapist i would say that this is a healthy lunch (true to be careful of the salt) the most important thing is variety s not every day!
hope this helps

Hannah

I think the problem with wholemeal bread is supposed to be that beacuse of high content of fiber it prevents all the vitamins and minerals being absorbed. But I'm sure it's fine. Maybe you can alternate?
Lunch sounds healthy, but it is a lot of salt. I gave my dd (13 mo) a slice of cheese today and had a look after at the salt content- 0,2 g sodium or 0,5 g salt for one thin slice of gouda! That's a quater of the daily recommendation. Bread has a lot of salt as well. I guess if they eat that for lunch, then dinner should be salt free(ish).
It's hard to control it, though, I cook from scratch most of the time, but it's difficult to avoid giving them a bit of cheese, some bread, few biscuits etc during a day.