Packed lunch/ school snacks for overweight 12 year old..

[Soggyundercarriage]

Ds is overweight and with school starting back soon I want to plan some filling but healthy things for his lunch. However he's quite fussy and likes sandwiches, crisps etc so wouldn't eat a cold pasta salad or cous cous. His snacks tend to be sweet like a malt loaf bar or cereal bar but ideally I want to stop these as I know he buys a snack at school sometimes so rather than stop him I think just cutting out the ones at home would be better.
Home cooked meals are fine as we cook from scratch and I shall start to use a smaller plate ( for us all) and ramp up the veg.
Feel like he eats the same thing every day for packed lunch and want to try and make it more healthy. Tuna/ ham sandwich, crisps and squeeze yog plus a bag of dried apricots or mango and a bottle of water. Luckily he doesn't drink soft drinks unless a special occasion.
He does walk a mlie or so to school each day so I know if we change our diets we'll see results. For context his younger brother is stick thin and grazes rather than big meals. Any tips welcomed
Thank you

A bag of dried apricots or a bag of dried mango is far too large a portion and too sugary. Ditch the tube yoghurt, again filled with sugar or sweeteners.

Get some small tubs- sistema do a great variety of small pots. Put in apricots from a large packet, which is far more cost effective and you can cut down on the number he has. Crisps no more than twice a week. Perhaps some plainish popcorn, but not too much. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot sticks, pepper strips etc are all good. Grapes are very sweet, so a small portion of those to make him feel he's getting something sweet. Seaweed takes some getting used to, but it's reasonably healthy. Lots of variety but small amounts will probably feel nicer for him than larger portions.

Would he have plain yoghurt with fruit or small amount of compote?

Sandwiches are fine, give him brown or whole meal bread and something rich in protein: egg, tuna, chicken slices. Be careful with yogurt - it’s often high in sugar and fat. You need something like Skyr: high in protein and fuller for longer. Apple slices as a fruit rather than dried apricots. I would also give him bigger sandwich and ban crisps.

WI'll get some of those pots.. When I say bag of apricots I mean a small bag I've made up. So maybe 3 apricots or a small portion of mango.
He doesn't like salad at all or raw veg. It's a challenge as he likes hot plain food. So a roast dinner or similar he loves. Plus he doesn't get much time at all for lunch so needs to be quick for him.
Maybe an extra sandwich minus the crisps would be better..

I wouldn’t worry too much. It’s natural to gain weight at that age to fuel puberty. He will shoot up soon.

DD is not a big fan of sandwiches but used to have that plus crisps and Kit Kat plus chopped veg/fruit. We have now changed to small pot of plain pasta with olive oil, salt and pepper and a tiny amount of grated cheese in a flask and ditched the crisps. She enjoys lunch and having something a bit different to others and we have massively reduced carbs and overall quantity of lunch. In all honesty though if your da is just a little overweight I suspect the walking to school and his next growth spurt will sort that out. It never hurts to I still healthy eating habits though. I would also work on the raw salad veg though. Raw Red pepper is really sweet and with a little encouragement you may be surprised. Start putting some chopped raw veg in the bag and excluding choc/sweet cake etc. If he's really hungry he will try it. Don't make it a big deal but just mention it's there if he needs it.

Just because your evening meal is homemade doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy....what sorts of things do you have? And what does he have for breakfast?
Could you try doing filled wraps, pitta breads etc instead of sandwiches?
Fresh fruit would be preferable to dry - things like apples, pears, plums, satsumas.
Babybel or string cheese could be a good addition- maybe alternate these with the crisps?

Evening meal are things like spag bol packed with veg. Roast dinner. Jacket pot with cheese and beans. Omelette etc
Portion size is def something we need to change.. for us all
Its the lunch box that stumps me a bit as things that would be so lovely and quick to munch he doesn't like at all. I might try a pasta salad again to eat at home and see if he's willing. He doesn't seem to like crunchy things unless it's a crisp

Do you butter his sandwiches (or does he)? Only butter one slice of the bread and then gradually cut down the amount of butter to zero or use something else like mayonaise.

Mayonnaise is high in fat but less than butter/marge/spread you can also use ketchup or hummus.

Crisps are tasty but nutritionally just a lot of fat and carbs, could he have half a packet in a tub?