It wasn’t good.

One of my favourite people to discuss child nutrition with is dietitian and nutritionist Susie Burrell.

But she’s just given me some advice on what to pack my children for school lunches that I’ll never be able to follow.

Here’s what my kids will be eating at school this week:

Philip, 10-years-old.

Recess: Pizza Shapes and an apple.

Lunch: 2 corn thins with butter and vegemite and a juice popper.

Giovanni, 6-years-old.

Recess: Pretzels and a banana.

Lunch: A plain bread roll and 6 Ritz crackers.

Caterina, 5 years-old.

Recess: Rice Wheels and a nectarine.

Lunch: A ham sandwich and 6 Ritz crackers.

Pretty normal, right? Or am I the only Australian mum completely reliant on carbs to feed my kids at school?

Susie would only give me one tick for these choices. She says it’s time to break our reliance on carbs in our kid’s school lunches.

“As a nutritionist who has spent more than ten years working with overweight children and teens I have one request for all the mums out their this school year for kids lunch ideas. Please do not over-carb your kids school lunchbox,” she said.

http://ivillageau.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/files/2015-01-30_17-20-46.jpg Susie Burrell.

Susie then points the finger and some of the usual suspects. Most of which are sitting in my pantry just waiting for their turn in those brown, paper bags. On the no-go list:

Susie explains:

And you know how the kids come home from school saying they are "starving" and then proceed to eat the entire contents of your fridge? This is why, according to Susie:

To turn this around, Susie says parents need to find way to pack more protein in lunchboxes each day. She says we should making sandwiches using good quality bread filled with egg, lean meat or tuna.

Those parents worried about these proteins spoiling and making their children ill, she suggests freezing juice poppers or water bottles and placing them in the lunchbox next to the sandwich to keep it cool.

She has plenty more ideas:

Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

So when you go to pack your children's school lunches this week, add some protein, keep snack foods small and make some of it yourself from scratch. I know Philip will eat yogurt, as long as it is in a tube, I know Giovanni will eat banana muffins, as long as they have chocolate chips in them and I know Caterina will eat cheese and crackers until the cows come home.

Can't be that hard, right?

What will your kids get in their school lunches this week?

SCROLL THROUGH the gallery for some great lunchbox ideas...

Savoury muffins.

Savoury muffins.

Chicken salad.

Chicken salad.

Carrot and celery sticks.

Carrot and celery sticks.

Ham and salad wrap.

Ham and salad wrap.

Pasta salad.

Pasta salad.

Star sandwiches.

Star sandwiches.

Fruit salad.

Fruit salad.

Strawberries.

Strawberries.

Read up on more of Susie's brilliant advice at SusieBurrell.com.au

Want more? Try these:

"Keep our school lunches a fad-free zone.

How to get ready to go back to school without spending a fortune.

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