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Free Healthy Nursery Meals

Packed lunches

We hope that the Free Healthy Nursery Meals funding will help you reduce the number of
packed lunches being eaten in the nursery class, by enabling you to provide healthy meals
or snacks.
We recommend the use of a packed lunch policy for the nursery class to ensure that all
children are receiving a healthy balanced meal, even when their parents choose to provide a
packed lunch option.

First Steps Nutrition have developed a useful packed lunches guide for children aged 1-4
years old. This includes a number of budget friendly, healthy recipes that can be shared with
parents.

What should go into a packed lunch?

  • One or two portions of starchy food, such as a sandwich or pasta. Whole-grains should be chosen where possible
  • One portion of protein such as egg, chicken or hummus
  • At least one portion of fruit
  • At least one portion of vegetables
  • One portion of dairy or dairy alternatives, e.g. low sugar yogurt, cheese or milk to drink.

A packed lunch policy template can be found here.