Posted on January 15, 2019
It can be tricky to pack school-friendly lunches for high school students with braces. Luckily, the high schools in Glendale Unified School District have great cafeteria breakfast and lunch menus with options that students with braces can enjoy! If your child will be eating meals on campus with their braces, check out this guide for tips on which cafeteria options they should pick in order to maximize nutrition and keep their braces safe and undamaged!
The high schools in Glendale offer a rotating breakfast menu, with staples like breakfast bars, cereals, string cheese, and fresh fruit options served every morning. Other breakfast foods in the rotation include
Most of these options will be perfectly safe for students with braces to enjoy. However, if they choose the breakfast sandwich option, advise your child to disassemble the sandwich so that they can cut it up into bite sized pieces that are easier to chew. The other factor to consider is the sugar content in their breakfast. A lot of the breakfast offerings are very high in sugar, so encourage your child to build a balanced breakfast with protein and good carbs when making their selections. One easy tip is to choose regular milk instead of chocolate milk or juice, this reduces the processed sugars in their meal, and their teeth will love the calcium!
There are some great braces-friendly lunch options in the Glendale Unified high schools. Choices like
are all soft enough to cut into bite-sized pieces and easily enjoy! Other options like pizza can also work, as long as they cut them up and avoid biting into and tearing tough foods with their teeth, as this can be damaging for braces. Most of the daily fruit and veggie options, like cubed butternut squash and fruit cups, are also safe for braces. However, baby carrots are a little too crunchy to chew, so those should probably be avoided. The salad bar also offers great options for a healthy, balanced meal! Encourage your child to add a side salad to their lunches for extra nutrition. Yogurt is on the dessert menu every day, which is great news! Yogurt is soft enough to eat with braces and the extra calcium and protein are great for oral and overall health.
If your child is going to be eating breakfast or lunch at their high school in Glendale, make sure they pack a toothbrush and toothpaste in their backpack so that they can properly clean their teeth and braces after they eat. If you have any questions about navigating high school with braces, schedule a consultation with us today!
