Episode 93 : Why your child is still hungry after their lunchbox

Episode 93 : Why your child is still hungry after their lunchbox

Have you ever opened your child's lunchbox after school, only to find half of it untouched, and then watched them come home absolutely starving?

In this episode of The Easy Feed Podcast, I'm unpacking one of the most common concerns I hear from parents: why children are still hungry after their lunchbox. And the answer isn't always as simple as "they didn't eat enough".

We'll explore how protein, fibre and the types of snacks we're packing can dramatically impact our children's energy levels, concentration, blood sugar balance, and hunger throughout the school day. I'll also share some practical strategies to help you make small, realistic improvements to your child's lunchbox without spending hours creating the perfect Instagram-worthy lunch.

Whether you have a picky eater, a fussy eater, or simply a child who comes home ravenous every afternoon, this episode will help you understand how to build a lunchbox that better supports childrens nutrition, healthy energy levels, and long-lasting fullness.

In This Episode

Why Children Feel Hungry After School
Discover the common reasons children come home starving, even when they've eaten their lunchbox.

The Missing Protein Problem
Learn why protein is essential for concentration, energy, appetite regulation, and supporting a healthy diet for fussy eaters.

How Fibre Keeps Children Fuller for Longer
Find out simple ways to boost fibre intake to support gut health, blood sugar balance, and children's nutrition.

The Truth About High-GI Lunchbox Snacks
Understand how fast-release carbohydrates can affect mood, focus, and hunger throughout the school day.

Simple Lunchbox Swaps That Actually Work
Practical, realistic changes you can make to improve nutrition for fussy eaters without increasing parental stress.

As a paediatric dietitian and childrens nutritionist, I believe the goal isn't to create the perfect lunchbox. It's to make small, consistent changes that support your child's health, nutrition, and relationship with food over time.

Links:
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Highlights:

Introduction & Why Your Child Is Still Hungry After Their Lunchbox - 00:00
Comparing Australian Lunchboxes with Japan's School Meals - 02:23
Balancing Nutrition Without Parental Guilt - 04:47
Protein: A Common Lunchbox Challenge - 07:09
Too Little Fiber in Children's Lunchboxes - 09:31
High-GI Snacks and Blood Sugar Spikes - 11:42
Better Snack Swaps and Alternatives - 14:03
Summary: Protein, Fiber, and High-GI Snacks - 16:28

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

Healthy Recipes for Kids: https://nourishwithkarina.com/healthy-recipes-for-kids

Free Kids Nutrition Library: https://nourishwithkarina.com/freeinfo

Nutrition Consultation: https://nourishwithkarina.com/nutrition-consultation

Join the Membership Waitlist: https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Email Karina: hello@nourishwithkarina.com

Introduction & Why Your Child Is Still Hungry After Their Lunchbox - 00:00
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 93. Why your child is still hungry after their lunchbox. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage, and with over 20 years' experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Back. It's great to have you. I am excited to share this episode with you because I think it is a super, super, super duper common issue that we all face. Look, I remember when I was a child, I would come home starving and I would open up my mum and dad's pantry and I'd just head straight to the muesley bars. I remember and I would just or biscuits maybe, but I just remember smashing muesley bars. Maybe that's all that was there. I don't know. Although I know that there's biscuits in my mum's cupboard now for sure.

So anyway, I wanted to talk about why our children are so hungry after their lunchbox in the afternoon. And look, it certainly relates to whether they've eaten it or not. my goodness, the conversations I have with my son, I open up the lunch pack and see his lunchbox and open up the lunchbox and all the bits and pieces or whatever I've put into his lunch bag, I guess you would say. And nine times out of ten,

There's something uneaten. And nine times out of ten, there's more than one thing uneaten. And it's usually the more savory option, whether it's the homemade pasta, whether it's the vegemite sandwich, what whatever the kind of the main meal is. Look, I don't know. I have to give him a little more credit. He has been doing reasonably well. But on the whole, there's definitely things left in the lunchbox. And

That's one reason why they're hungry after school, but that's not the only reason. And that's not one of the biggest reasons. One of the biggest reasons is our lunch boxes are very different to how lunches are overseas. So when we were in Japan earlier in the year, it was really interesting to learn that they have a full-time dietitian hired for every school canteen and they

Comparing Australian Lunchboxes with Japan's School Meals - 02:23
feed their children and there is very strict regulations around what they are fed each day. And the children get given this healthy food that's balanced, healthy diet, fresh cooked meals, protein, carbohydrate veggies, and probably fruit as well. And it's incredible the difference that happens between countries. And what those children are eating for lunch is significantly like comp polar opposites to what

Children in Australia might be eating for lunch or in their lunchbox, which often is highly processed, refined foods, sometimes laden with additives and whatnot as well. And so it's such a contrast. And I know that daycare centers and early learning centers sometimes will provide hot, you know, cooked meals for lunch, which is wonderful. But we lose that as we go into primary school. And it's up to parents to provide that. Look.

There are certainly probably more your traditional kindergartens or preschools that do encourage you to bring your own lunchboxes and whatnot. They don't have an on-site chef or they don't provide meals, but you know, it's it's kind of mixed. Whereas as we move into school, we have to provide as parents, we have to provide the lunchbox in Australia. And it's quite different to what happens in some other countries. And so that alone is quite a significant difference. And

I just think if our children had access to a freshly cooked hot meal that tasted delicious, then there would probably be many more children eating a good balance of protein and veggies and, you know, good quality carbs every lunchtime. Whereas at the moment, we don't have access to that. I mean, sure you can order a lunch order and there's huge variability in what you can order on a lunch order. So it's not always guaranteed to be great, healthy, but you know.

Take a Japan, for example, they have a dietitian who is planning these meals, balanced, nutritious, healthy meals for these kids. And that's all they get. And that's what they eat. They all eat it. So it's so different. And it is going to be so much better for their blood sugar levels and their nutrition and their learning day in, day out, having those types of meals at school.

Balancing Nutrition Without Parental Guilt - 04:47
Because it is a significant part of their day. It's like a third of their day, right? And so we just need to be paying attention to what goes in the lunchbox. Now I say that. And then in the other breath, I want to reduce parental guilt and burden. And I say, well, look, if a child really struggles with what they eat, and certainly I work with a lot of neurodivergent families and they may be on medication, ADHD medication that really knocks off their appetite during the day. And so I say, look.

let's make it count every kind of meal and snack outside of the school day where the medication isn't impacting them so much. So, you know, it's it's it's different for different groups of individual children. However, on the whole, I think it is good to see if there's any tweaks that we can make to our child's day to boost the nutrition of their lunchbox without feeling guilty or without feeling like you've got to spend

Half an hour every morning creating the perfect, you know, Instagram bull lunchbox. So let's dive into some of the most common challenges that I see in lunchboxes and with snacks and whatnot in lunchboxes. So let's talk about three today in the interest of time. Number one is poor quality protein. And look, this is something I've certainly struggled with all of my children's lunchbox life, which is now aw.

Let me have a think about that. Which, if I think about it, is about eight years. And protein is something that I've struggled with, and I know that many parents struggle with because number one, parents don't want to put lean meat or processed meats in the lunchbox, especially as it heats up over the day. They're worried about it going off and creating, you know, bacteria and making their kids sick. Number two, some of the proteins that

Are really healthy to put in the lunchbox may not be as well accepted. So things like boiled eggs or tuna, I'm not sure if they're as well accepted. But look, I've got plenty of ideas, and I've also got a lunchbox planner system. I'll pop the link in the show notes if you want to grab that. It's got all my tips and tricks and hacks around lunch boxes just to make them 90% easier every morning. But definitely protein is something that we need to pay attention to. And the reason is because.

Protein: A Common Lunchbox Challenge - 07:09
Protein helps children to feel fuller for longer. And if they're not getting any protein in their lunchbox and it's mainly what we call carbs or fast sugars or high GI carbs, then that's really going to shoot their sugar levels up. Drop them down quickly, and then they have another hit and then they swing up again. And they have these what we call shark tooth like blood sugar levels, which is terrible for concentration and mood and focus.

And protein, adding protein to the mix helps to balance out and stabilize those blood sugar levels. It actually helps, it's called glycemic load. The carbohydrates and the protein and whatever else you're eating in that meal, together, that mixed meal creates a glycemic load and it can actually slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream, which is great. So I'm often recommending, especially if children love white bread and white crackers, to

Add protein where possible to slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream and to add valuable nutrients such as iron and zinc and hopefully also fiber. Because if you've been with me for a while, if you see me on Instagram or if you're in my mailing list, you'll know that I'm not a massive fan of dairy snacks. And that's a whole nother conversation. But the thing is, because dairy snacks don't offer iron, they don't offer fiber to nutrients that you know.

30, 40, 50% of toddlers and young children are low-in. So we want to make these protein foods count. And ideally, they're protein foods that contain iron and even better if they contain fiber. So too little protein is something that we see in the lunchbox. And have a think about your child's lunchbox and see whether there's anything that can be done there to.

Increase the protein of your child's lunchbox because that is going to help them feel fuller for longer. That is going to help stabilize their blood sugar levels. That is going to offer them valuable iron, possibly zinc, possibly fiber, if we get the right protein-rich food. Which leads me beautifully onto my number two issue with many children's lunch boxes: is too little fiber.

Too Little Fiber in Children's Lunchboxes - 09:31
And we know that 40% of children don't meet their fiber needs. And so how can we increase fiber into the child's lunchbox? And look, it can be as simple as if your child likes a jam sandwich, put a bit of chia in the jam when you're making the jam sandwich in the morning. Or if they've got a white bread sandwich, can we move over to a wholemeal bread sandwich? Or can we add some pumpkin seeds, some

Papitas. They're super nutritious for children. I was only sharing them in my membership today, a brand of papitas that are really great for kids. So it's just simple changes that you can make that done consistently will really lift your child's fiber intake. And fiber also helps children feel fuller for longer. It also helps stabilize blood sugar levels. So similar to protein.

Fiber is also a great addition to the lunchbox, especially if your child loves white food and is stuck on the white bread. So if they are stuck on the white bread sandwich, don't beat yourself up about it. There's always things we can do. Value add around at. Maybe you can even add healthy fats. You know, healthy fats also help to stabilize blood sugar levels. So olives, avocado, those types of things.

As I said, in my lunchbox plan the system, I've got so many tips for you, including all the non-sandwich options and ways to boost healthy fats, ways to help stabilize blood sugar levels, ways to help keep kids feeling fuller for longer, because that's a real challenge, especially with the way that lunch boxes are prepared in Australia, meaning that we have to do them. There is no beautiful home-cooked meal that's delivered to them in school. Wouldn't that be amazing? Now the third

Issue and challenge I have with kids' lunch boxes is the snacks. And the snacks are mostly, or not mostly, but many of them are what we call high GI fast sugars. And if we can substitute these snacks and move them from being high GI to low GI, there's plenty of ways we can do that, by the way, then that's going to really help again stabilize their blood sugar levels, stabilize their energy.

High-GI Snacks and Blood Sugar Spikes - 11:42
And it's gonna tie them over better to afternoon tea so they're not as ravenous. It kind of takes the edge off just a tad. So thinking rice crackers, swap rice crackers for popcorn, or if they really want rice crackers, put some hummus with it, or put some chopped carrot with it to try to balance out the white. Okay. So whenever your child has a really fast sugar or a high GI, so it doesn't have to be like a sugary food, but it it's

Food that will typically release sugar into the bloodstream quite quickly, like a high GI fast sugar, so like white rice crackers, for example, try to put something with that that will help slow down the release of that sugar. So when you're preparing the lunchbox and you see the white go in, think, well, what can I put with that to help stabilize it? And sure, cheese is high in protein and high in fat, so it will help to stabilize it. But as I said, trying hard to move people towards something that is going to offer.

Iron and fiber and cheese offers neither of those. Same with yoga, neither of those. Kids love dairy foods, and I understand why, but it's the problem. But the problem is that it's actually driving them towards being lower in their iron stores. And the latest origin study came out, and I talked about it a tiny bit in my last podcast episode, showing that almost 57% of three-year-old children in Australia are low in iron, which is crazy. So

The more dairy that they're having at snacks, the less iron-rich foods they're having at snacks time. And I know that they could be having at main meals, but with kids, you've just got to get the iron-rich foods in throughout the day. You can't just rely on dinner. And often these high GI snacks aren't high in iron. So we need to be really intentional with our children's snacks. So have a think about the snacks that go into your child's lunchbox. And I'm not saying you have to do a complete snacks overhaul. I'm all about keeping it doable.

And real, but just think of one thing you can swap. And I know you can't put nuts in the lunchbox, which is super frustrating. I mean, look, some schools are nut aware, which is amazing. And there's plenty of other options for the school lunchbox, just to name a few. We've got edamami, we've got the nut butter substitutes, we've got fava beans, we've got chickpeas, whether they're dried, whether they're made into a cookie using chickpea flour. Look, I've got a great healthy kids recipe book that's

Better Snack Swaps and Alternatives - 14:03
specifically been designed to boost all of these nutrients, especially in all the baked goods. So I've got heaps and heaps of cookies and brownies and muffin recipes that are great for school that increase iron and fiber. So we'll pop the link to that in my show notes as well. Otherwise just head to my website nourishwithcarina.com forward slash recipe book and you can find the the recipe book there. So back to the high GI snacks, we just need to be really intentional with not only

which high GI snacks we're giving them and possibly moving them away from high GI. So for example, swapping rice crackers for popcorn. Simple as that. That's a much better swap. Okay, so you go from a highly processed white rice cracker to a whole grain, high fiber, iron-containing popcorn. So it's a great swap, simple swap. And doable and easy. So just making those simple changes can be a really great start from the high GI to a healthier option.

But if they're really stuck with the high GI, then bring in other things that will help to slow down that release of sugar and balance out the GI if that makes sense. Hopefully that makes sense. So just in summary, the three key areas that I feel could be worked on and improved a little in our children's lunch boxes these days is number one, protein. Not enough good quality protein, not dairy products, but other quality protein-rich foods, whether it's meat or non-meat options.

That's going to increase your child's nutrition. That's going to increase the intake of those valuable nutrients. Number two, too little fiber. So, what can we bring into the lunchbox that boosts fiber? Sure, swapping rice crackers for popcorn is going increase the fiber. What else can we put in there that's going to increase the fiber? As I said, putting a bit of chia into a jam sandwich will increase the fiber. What other little hacks and strategies can we?

cry that without the child even realizing is going to increase the fiber. And that's going to not only help their blood sugar levels and take that edge off the hunger after school, but it's also going to feed their gut bugs and keep their gut bugs in much healthier population and support the immune system because we know that 70% of the immune system is in the gut. So those little tweaks that you're making to try and help their blood sugar levels and help them not be so hungry after school.

Summary: Protein, Fiber, and High-GI Snacks - 16:28
Is actually also benefiting their gut health and their immune health. Okay, number three, we've got too many high GI snacks. So those fast sugars, we need to try and swap for something that's a little slower. And that's where you just need to look at their snacks, their measli bars, their rice crackers. I do have a simple guide. Actually, my guide is also in my lunchbox planner system. So it's best just to get that because you get the guide and you get everything to do with lunch boxes in there. As I said, I'll pop the link to that in the show notes.

But really trying to intentionally swap one high GI food option for a lower GI food option that your child will still accept. And there's plenty of those options out there. We just have to think of them. We just need those that list of those ideas and intentionally do it. Start buying those options instead of the other ones because if it's not in the cupboard, it's also much easier to put plan B in there rather than the high GI snack that they're used to, like a L CM bar, for example.

So I hope that's been helpful to give you a little insight into three key areas that I think could be tweaked to be improved in your child's lunchbox. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if your child's lunchbox is not perfect. It shouldn't be perfect because that's not real life for any of us. And I'm all about keeping it real and not raising expectations too high so that parents feel guilty. It's about picking one thing that you can do to make that small improvement done consistently will make a big difference.

If you are interested in my membership, it's closed now, but you can pop on the wait list by heading to the link. I'll put the link in the show notes as well. And I'll wrap it up there. I wish you a beautiful week and I can't wait to chat to you again soon. Bye for now.