WELLNESS CONNECTION · Nutrition

Healthy Eating Tips for Family Travel

By Paulette Lambert, R.D., CDE, Director of Nutrition

May 05, 2011 - 9:00AM

If you want to minimize the number of frustrated moments on your next trip it�s important to cover the true basics of family travel. The most important being that kids need to eat three times per day and will no doubt also benefit from a snack or two. Kids will often misidentify thirst, boredom, and exhaustion as hunger, so requests for food may come at a breakneck pace and when least expected.

With all that eating going on, how can you make sure your family is at its healthy best? My motto is the old Boy Scout one, �be prepared.� A little forethought and work can save you from a high level of aggravation and make travelling with your kids the enjoyable experience it should be for all involved.

Here are some tips I�ve found very useful in navigating the minefield that is food and family travel:

� Bring nonperishable snacks: Dried fruit, nuts, crackers, energy bars, baggies of healthy dry cereal, and a small plastic jar of peanut butter are musts for any trip, and you won�t lose them to airport security.
� Keep water nearby: Buy a water bottle after going through security for the flight so it�s at your fingertips anytime.
� Stock a fruit bag as you go: Find stores or delis where you can purchase fresh fruit so you have a supply in a backpack daily for those between-meal snacks. Just be sure to wash it well, or if water safety is questionable, only buy fruits that you peel, such as oranges and bananas

Navigating airport food traps

If your airline is not providing a meal, you will need to pack a lunch or purchase �to go� food at the airport. I�ve found packing a healthy favorite sandwich always better than what I could get at the airport.

� Avoid fries: If you�re stuck with fast food, avoiding the high-bad-fat and sodium of French fries is a must.
� Keep frozen treats light: Allow your child a small frozen yogurt or low-fat soft ice cream for a treat with less fat and sodium than regular ice cream.
� Be cautious with pizza: If pizza is the only viable choice, leave the nitrate meats off and order cheese or veggie toppings only.

Keeping vacation food fun with treat coupons

One way to make sure you�re not overdoing your vacation health kick is to keep food fun and allow for special treats. It�s easy to consume a lot of junk food on any vacation, but allowing one treat each day is reasonable. Use the compromise as a teaching moment on delaying instant gratification and allow your child one special treat per day (including fries and soda).

You can use a visible currency and create daily treat coupons ahead of time that your kids can �cash in� each day when they�ve decided on their treat of choice. Encourage them to wait and save their coupons for a really special treat. When they ask for more, remind them that they already used their coupon for that day and that they�ll get another to use the next day. Simple strategies like treat coupons will reduce the time you spend explaining the downsides of unhealthy food and bring more joy to your trip.

Making the most of restaurants

Restaurant menus are hard enough to navigate without kids in tow, let alone with them. Kids� meals are usually fried entrees like chicken nuggets and French fries, and adult entrees offer a bounty of fat and calories you don�t want to bring home.

If you don�t see a lot of healthy options on the menu:

� Substitute: Ask if you can substitute fresh fruit, a vegetable, or salad for fries.
� Share for health: It may be better to split a regular meal between two kids or with you to improve choices.
� Got milk? Order milk or chocolate milk for a good source of protein and calcium.
� Start with the best: Ask your waiter if you can get a few raw veggies, some cut fruit, or even your dinner salads while waiting for your meal. Hungry kids and adults will eat what�s in front of them.
� Don�t fill up on bread: Give everyone a slice of bread and then have the waiter remove the bread basket so your kids do not fill up on white bread, which leaves them little room for their meal.
� Skip the breakfast buffet: While breakfast buffets may seem like a good idea with so many choices, they are filled with tempting, sugary, high-fat foods. You may be better off ordering a healthier kids� breakfast off a menu and splitting one order of pancakes or waffles among everyone.

Eating healthily while travelling with your family isn�t impossible. In fact, it can be quite a lot of fun. If you can get into the habit of making food choices in advance and preparing for the potential whims and wants of hungry kids, you�ll find that a lot of the aggravation disappears from your travelling family dynamic and life gets a lot more fun. Which is the point of family travel.

This article originally appeared in the Have Family, Will Travel blog.

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