It is important to encourage breakfast. A good night's sleep followed by food in the morning helps your child to stay active and concentrate at school. It also means your child is less likely to be too hungry during the morning.

Be a role model and let your child see you eat breakfast too. A bowl of old fashioned porridge oats (not instant) or scrambled egg on wholemeal toast, is a great start for the whole family.

Allow children to help with preparing meals and shopping. Better still, if you have a garden, get them involved in planting their own fruits and vegetables.

Teach some simple nutrition such as 'yoghurt helps your bones grow good and strong' and 'Carrots help you to see in the dark'.

• Children should be encouraged to drink plain water and avoid sweetened or soft drinks.

• Buy plain yoghurt and put in your own fruit - this way you avoid the added sugar. If the child wants it sweeter, use F.O.S. which is sweet, and is actually good for them. 

• Small sandwiches or brown pitta bread with cheese, home cooked lean meat, hummus and salad, or grated carrot. Avoid sliced tomatoes in sandwiches as they become soggy - provide separate cherry tomatoes instead.

• Washed and cut up raw vegetables or fresh fruits. Cut the fruit up in pieces and dip apple in lemon juice to prevent it going brown. Try introducing new vegetables and fruits all the time - even one single mange-tout (de-stringed!) or sugar-snap pea might tempt them, and it all adds up.  Some hummus or other dip may encourage your child to eat the veggie sticks.

• Falafel or egg salad.

• Smoothie. Lots of ideas in Dr Gillian McKeith's books. Also see Cooking Without by Barbara Cousins which gives options for the 'allergic' child.

• Bite-sized oven-roasted potato cubes, oven roasted carrots. Roast in minimum of olive oil, or better still, coconut oil. The coconut oil will help release energy, without making the child overweight.

• Left-over home-roasted chicken wings or drumsticks. For very young children, finger-shaped chunks of chicken breast are easier to eat.  Serve with cherry tomatoes, mini-corn cobs, raw sugar-snap peas, etc. Stored in fridge overnight.

• Chopped fruit, rolled in yoghurt and coconut.

• Teaspoon worth of sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

• Soaked or steamed almonds (quicker to eat and easier to digest when steamed for a few minutes) - Important: Some children are allergic to nuts and seeds - teach your children that they must not share these with other children, and why. Check first with the school that there are no children who are severely allergic to nuts, e.g. even touching, in which case don't put them in your children's lunch boxes.

• Older children: cold chicken kebab on stick, with pieces of pepper, onion, etc intermingled. Made the night before and stored in fridge until the last minute. Snip off pointed ends of wooden skewer for safety.

• Bottle of plain water (in warmer weather, freeze a half-filled bottle, and top up with cold water in the morning). Wrap in a cloth and plastic bag to prevent contents of lunch box getting wet. The cold bottle will help to keep meat, cheese, etc. cool, and reduce bacterial growth.  Better still, place a thoroughly frozen gel brick on top of the food.

• Hard-boiled egg, de-shelled, with cherry tomatoes.

• Home made soup in a flask for the colder months.