We have food suggestions, products, ideas and information you need to make great lunches and snack choices for your children, at every stage of their development. The NuVal™ Nutritional Scoring System is your first tool to help identify the best choices amongst the foods they already like. Then, the calorie-serving guide helps you ensure they get enough of a good thing, but not too much! Both resources help you take care or their health and your budget.
NuVal™ scores foods and beverages to help you find the most nutritious choices. Based on a food's nutrition fact panel and ingredient list, NuVal™ scores range from 1-100; the higher the score, the higher the nutrition.Look for NuVal™ scores on the shelf tag.
Savvy shoppers use the average score (middle score of all the products in a category) to ensure they are making a better choice. Check out the chart at right for some score ranges and averages for key lunch items.
Putting it All Together
Your child needs a variety of foods to meet their needs for growing well and staying healthy. Part of your job is to make sure they eat well enough, but not too much, and that can be very challenging as foods come in all sorts of packages, portions, servings and sizes.
The calorie serving chart at right (below the NuVal chart) is based on science-based standards used by the Institute of Medicine, USDA, and FDA, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The guide is divided by age group/school type so you can double-check the portions and calories and be confident you are meeting your child's needs. Over time , we will be building product lists for you to use that combine these standards, and make choosing foods a snap.Additional details about the Luvin' Lunchbox nutritional standards can be found here.
By choosing the foods with the highest NuVal™ scores, and matching the calories and servings to your children's age, you have really ensured they will get great lunches and great nutrition (you may want to keep the nutrition part to yourself!)
This Luvin' Lunchbox information will help you make great choices for lunches and snacks for children (and adults!) of all ages. Children who eat healthfully score beter on tests, have fewer behavior issues, and have better learning experiences than those who don't. With good nutrition, you give your children a great foundation to learn from.
