1.  A meal eaten in the middle of the day, typically one that is lighter or less formal than an evening meal.

As the main daily meal in dozens of countries around the world, lunch holds a place of primary cultural importance. In 9-to-5 environments, the midday meal isn’t always such a big deal, but making time for a healthy lunch can pay off both mentally and physically.

Lunch is an important meal for everyone. It provides energy and nutrients to keep the body and brain working efficiently through the afternoon. A packed lunch made at home can be a more healthy food then a restaurant or canteen provided.

Some people think they can ride out the day without lunch but there are some problems. Skipping lunch is like going on a mini fast and may lead to intense feelings of hunger especially if breakfast was not adequate. If you go too long without eating, you are likely to eat too much at the next opportunity. This is known as the ‘what the hell effect’. Skipping lunch will catch up with you and may make it harder for you to regulate you’re eating and weight.

Importance of lunch:-

Lunch may have even more importance for school-aged children than for adults. Lunch makes up one third to one half of a child’s nutritional intake for an entire day and is essential for helping children succeed in school as well as grow and develop successfully and healthfully.

At school, a hungry child can lose concentration in class, have no energy for playtime and snack on unhealthy foods, such as chips or biscuits.

A child’s success in many areas, including school, can be affected by having a healthy school lunch. Benefits to eating healthy should not be taken for granted by parents or school administrators when considering what children are eating for lunch. Packing a healthy school lunch for your child or advocating for healthy school lunches in your child’s school will benefit your child in many ways.

A healthy lunch can give children the energy they need to stay focused, pay attention in class, and learn the information presented to them in their classes after lunchtime. Children who are provided with sugary, fatty foods at school can develop poor eating habits that can last a lifetime.

Impact on Weight:- Kids Health reports that one in three children is overweight or obese. Since obesity in children is climbing, schools and parents should consider what their children are eating for lunch and how to make sure that they have adequate nutrition

Benefits of healthy lunch:-

                   When a child or an adult eats healthy and maintains a healthy body weight, they have less of a risk for developing chronic health problems such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. For a healthy life everyone should takes lunch on a fix time. Who takes lunch on time they are a healthy person more than other. If you take your lunch on time you don’t feel hungry and you done your work well.

• Lunch provides one-third of our daily calories.You want to make those calories count by offering nutrient-dense foods. Healthy lunches with proper portions can help support a healthy life.
• Before birth and for the first eight years after birth, children's bodies develop at a rapid pace. For example, new teeth and bones require calcium, which can be provided by milk, yogurt and cheese.
• Children need iron in their diets, which can be found in foods such as tuna and whole wheat bread.

What we should eat at lunch?

More than other, kids have to a lot of control over what they eat for lunch at school. When choosing what to eat for lunch, making a healthy choice is really important. Eating a variety of healthy foods gives you energy to do stuff, helps you grow the way you should, and can even keep you from getting sick. You have to think like that your school lunch as the fuel you put in your tank. If you choose the wrong kind of fuel, you might run out of energy before the day is over.

I really hate to see food left in the lunch boxes when kids come back from school because they did not feel like eating it. We cannot compromise on nutrition also. It has to be tasty and healthy. Parantha with vegetable is first choice for kids School lunch box but they need variety and get bored with parantha in 2-3 days.

I have prepared of list of items for kinds I hope they love to take in their school lunch boxes.

1. Spicy vegetable toast.

2. Bread Pancakes

3. Suji Dhokla

4. Bread roll

5. Moong Dal Dhokla

6. Different types of Sandwich

7. Poha tikki

8. Pasta,

9. Palak pratha roll with paneer

10. noodles,

11. Different types of prathe,

12. Different types of roll

13. Pavbhaji

14. Different types of rice

15. Roti roll with different vegetables etc.

I preface these because these are richest in vitamins, proteins and nutrition for school lunch for a kid. They give you a lot of energy. And these are tasty and healthy; you must like these items in lunch box.