Good eating habits start at home as Australian kids head back to school

It's estimated almost one-third of Australian children are overweight or obese, but for just $2.50 a day parents can send them back to school with far more nutritious food than they might have once received.

Starting early: Healthy lunches need not be expensive. Source: SBS News

Growing up in Sri Lanka, Neela Konara recalls being sent off to school with hearty meals for the day, packed full of rice, curries, fruit and vegetables but for her children in Australia, the choices are more limited, she finds.

"For these kids, I find that it's very different when you come here as a migrant," she said.

"The food choices you have are different and you are offered a lot of easy fast food that's not very healthy so to understand that is very important."

She's conscious of not taking the easy options when packing lunch boxes for her two children, four-year-old Dylan and seven-year-old Ryan who headed back to school this week, along with millions of other Australian children.

However the Cancer Council and Heart Foundation are concerned parents are too easily won over by the the promotion of so-called 'lunchbox' foods.

An example of a healthy lunchbox. Source: SBS News

Dietician Alison McAleese says the the typical primary school lunch-box consists of many refined foods.

"The packaging may lead you to believe it's healthy, but when you actually look at the ingredients and the nutrients, it's actually high in sugar and fat and doesn't provide children with a lot of goodness," Ms McAleese said.

Health groups estimate a third of children's daily food intake occurs at school, making what goes in the lunch box at home all the more important in providing the essential energy and nutrients they need.

Heart Foundation Victoria Chief Executive Kellie-Ann Jolly told SBS a healthy lunch doesn't have to be a more expensive one.

"We have been able to show that you can put together a $2.50 lunch box that's extremely healthy and nutritious and doesn't take a lot of time to prepare," she said.

It's important to make considered choices when it comes to your child's lunchbox, dieticians say. Source: SBS News

"Childhood is a critical window when we should be developing these good habits at a young age."

But with the bombardment of food marketing and promotion, it can be a challenging battle for parents like Neela Konara.

"Particularly when they watch TV, the very colourful, bright packaging that's shown on TV. They do that and want to try these food types," she said.

Not that there can't be exceptions for those special occasions.

"Sometimes at a party, or when I go trick or treating with my next door neighbour," Neela's son Ryan said.