Chapter 14

Children’s meal plans + lunch box menus

One in five children has eczema and, according to the National Eczema Society in the United Kingdom, there are no guarantees that a child will grow out of their eczema, although approximately 74 per cent are eczema-free by the age of sixteen. However, dietary changes can markedly speed up this process. This chapter outlines eczema-safe meal plans and lunch box menus for children aged one to seventeen years.

The following case study illustrates how a child with eczema can be assessed by compiling a complete health history.

Case study B

At fifteen months old Riley’s eczema spread to most of his body so a complete health history was taken, which revealed the following: since three months of age Riley had suffered from eczema, both his parents suffer from hay fever and his aunt and uncle have asthma. His mother was managing Riley’s eczema by moisturising him throughout the day, and he was given an antihistamine before bed if he was itchy and topical steroids were applied on the red patches. Riley’s mother had already taken steps to make the house eczema-safe: she was ventilating the house daily and was already giving her child a suitable probiotic supplement for eczema.
Riley’s eczema periodically worsens when he goes on long car trips (and if there is any change in routine) or if he eats foods he is allergic to or visits the family farm, where pesticides may be used. His eczema visibly worsens on hot and humid days, after swimming in chlorinated pools, after contact with grass or when crawling on carpet, sudden weather changes, on windy days and from stress. He always flares up for two weeks after receiving immunisations, which reveals his body may be slow at eliminating histamine from the blood (indicating the need for supplemental vitamin C, vitamin B6 and quercetin, and papaya in the diet). He has been allergy tested and is allergic to dairy, eggs, wheat, cod fish (other fish are okay), nuts, sesame seeds, latex and rye grass so he must avoid these. Riley had acid reflux for the first six months of life, which indicates he would benefit from alkalising foods in the diet (e.g. eczema-safe vegetables, banana, magnesium etc.) to promote acid–alkaline balance each day. He has shown no signs of fungal infection or candida overgrowth.
Riley’s mother ate raw egg white (whole-egg mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce) once a month, before but not during pregnancy. The problematic foods in Riley’s diet were watermelon, mangos, avocados, melon, passionfruit, mandarins, strawberries, jam, popcorn, Nuttelex[TM] (margarine), olive oil, broccoli, spaghetti bolognaise (tomato), corn/corn pasta and baked beans (these are rich in salicyaltes, natural MSG and the margarine is rich in omega-6). His mother was advised to avoid these and was given eczema-safe shopping lists, recipes and menus. A supplement was prescribed for Riley, which included biotin, glycine, magnesium, vitamin C, natural vitamin E, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin B6, zinc, alpha-lipoic acid, quercetin, vitamin K, vitamin D3, chromium, choline, inositol and calcium.
The update from Riley’s mother three months after the initial consultation: Now that Riley is walking he does not flare up from carpet contact and a change in routine is not really a problem now. Within about two weeks of starting the Eczema Diet Riley’s skin improved. Riley’s skin has continued to improve, it remains clearer for longer and he doesn’t get the all-over-body red rashes. Aside from Riley’s allergy foods (dairy, eggs etc.), Riley’s mother has reintroduced many of the foods but in moderation (once a week) and he seems to be fine with that.

The questionnaires in Chapter 2 can help you assess your child’s eczema and compile a health history.

How many serves per day?

The following table can help you determine how many serves of each food type your child should be eating every day, depending on their age.


Iron

A child should eat two protein foods containing iron each day for growth. Iron sources from richest to poorest are: red meat, commercial rice or oat cereals with added iron, beans, lentils, wholemeal pasta, tofu, chicken, fish and wholemeal bread. When you give your child a serve of iron-rich food, ensure it’s not at the same time as consuming calcium-rich foods as calcium can prevent iron absorption and iron deficiency causes anaemia and slow growth. A child aged one to three years needs 9mg of iron daily. If you give your child two serves of protein-rich foods daily and wholegrains, they should consume enough iron.

Breakfast selection

Cereals can be served with rice milk, organic soy milk or oat milk.

  • Omega Muesli
  • Surprise Porridge
  • puffed brown rice cereal
  • plain puffed rice cereal
  • Quinoa Porridge
  • Eczema-safe Fruit Salad
  • Buckwheat Crepes
  • Spelt Pancakes
  • spelt sourdough toast
  • gluten-free bread with Banana Carob Spread
  • Spelt Lavash Bread, with Banana Carob Spread
Drink selection
Snack selection
  • carrot and celery sticks/shapes with Sesame-free Hummus
  • The Wishing Plate,
  • sliced papaya
  • peeled pear
  • banana (not sugar variety)
  • Pear Muffins
  • Spelt Lavash Bread (and spelt chips)
  • Baked Banana Chips
  • plain rice crackers (no additives, no corn), with Bean Dip
  • plain rice cakes with Banana Carob Spread
  • Teething Rusks
  • wholegrain rye crispbread with Parsley Pesto (contains cashews)
  • Potato Wedges (homemade)
  • Banana Icy Poles
  • Banana on Sticks
  • stewed pear (reserve the water for drinks)
Lunch and dinner selection
DIY suggestions

I encourage you to experiment with the eczema-safe ingredients and create your own meals, for example:

  • lean lamb/chicken/fish/veal with green beans, brussels sprouts and Smashed Potato
  • lean lamb/chicken/fish/veal/beans with roasted carrots and Potato Wedges
  • grilled chicken served with Alkaline Bomb Salad
  • vegetarians and vegans: plain tofu with kidney beans, quinoa and diced carrots
  • chicken casserole with potatoes, sweet potato, carrots, leeks and celery (modify Chickpea Casserole recipe).
Must your child eat meat?

If you are vegetarian or vegan it is not necessary to eat red meat, fish or chicken during the Eczema Diet. Recipes containing meat are on the menu mainly for variety (and they supply protein and iron). Please choose vegetarian soups and eat beans if preferred. If a dinner recipe contains animal product and it cannot be converted to a vegetarian or vegan meal, then an option marked with ‘V&Vn’ will be given or there will be soup options. Many of the recipes in the menus are already suitable for vegetarians and vegans (such as breakfasts and snacks) and these are not marked with V&Vn.

Avoid these: tempeh, vegan/vegetarian patties and sausages, and other meat substitutes as they can contain additives, soy sauce and/or natural flavourings and herbs.

Gluten intolerance

If your child cannot eat gluten, the gluten-free meals are marked with ‘GF’ in the recipe section and most meals can be converted to gluten-free.

Menus

The following food plans were designed for some of my young eczema patients. The menus are guides only: you’ll need to adjust them to suit your child’s age, allergies and appetite and ensure they consume protein , dietary fibre, liquids such as water and eczema-safe fruits and vegetables. These symbols appear at the top the menus as a reminder to give your child some vegies, fruit, wholegrains, protein or liquid at that particular meal. You don’t have to strictly follow these suggestions, but if it becomes a habit for you to think ‘Lunch time is when I serve wholegrains’, or ‘I’ll serve protein with dinner’, it will be easier to give your child a nutritious and balanced diet.

The following menus are free of wheat, dairy, nuts and eggs, and contain alkalising foods and drinks. Before you begin, read ‘Chapter 12: Getting started’, and make Therapeutic Broth, a full day or two before you start day 1, and you might want to freeze some whole bananas as they make great desserts (peel them and place them in a sealed container). You’ll see there is a ‘treat day’ every seventh day and you can adapt this to suit your child so they have something to look forward to each week. Suggested meals are in the menus and you have several choices to choose from (also refer to the lists in this chapter and the Eczema-safe shopping guide: Stage 1).

Fussy eating habits
You’ll see on the menus coming up shortly that there are phrases written near the top of some of the columns, such as ‘time for eczema-safe vegies’ and ‘morning tea is fruit time’. These phrases are really effective tools to help guide a child to accept and enjoy a healthy eating program. If said daily, these phrases can help your child form new eating habits over a matter of days or weeks (for more tips on inspiring fussy kids to eat healthy foods refer to ‘Resources’).

Rate your child’s eczema

Before beginning the program, you can rate your child’s eczema (refer to ‘Rate your eczema’) and you may like to take photos of your child’s eczema so you can document their skin condition before and after.

Day 0: __/__/____ Skin condition: __/10















Lunch box menus

The following lunch box menus are designed for your child to eat either at home or to take with them to day care or school (the afternoon snack is there for consumption during long day care or after school). Each day there is a range of meals to choose from, keeping in mind the menus are a guide only and you will need to adjust the portion sizes to suit your child’s age, appetite and feeding ability.

Don’t forget!
Remember to pack: a water bottle; utensils such as a spoon or fork if packing yoghurt, salad, beans or tuna; a small freezer block to keep perishable protein items cold and fresh (such as yoghurt, fish, meat and soy). There is an increased risk of food poisoning if these items aren’t kept cool. Tip: papaya is an important source of vitamin C and skin-protective lycopene so ideally your child should eat it daily.

Lunch box menu A (age 1–3 years)

Mid-morning snack

Lunch

Afternoon snack
Day 1
Choose from: peeled pear; papaya; banana (not sugar variety), and/or Pear Muffin Design Your Own Sandwich or *gluten-free pasta spirals with lamb, kidney beans and soft carrot or green beans Celery cut into ‘shark’s teeth’ shapes (not sticks as they may be too chewy, see section entittled “Snacks”) and plain rice crackers or spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe)
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 2
Choose from: papaya balls (use a melon baller); banana Design Your Own Sandwich or wheat-free sandwich with diced/sliced chicken (home-cooked or organic) with grated carrot or shredded iceberg lettuce, pack a freezer block Spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe) and serve with Sesame-free Hummus
Water bottle (filtered water)
Day 3
Pear Muffin; banana Design Your Own Sandwich or wheat-free sandwich with Banana Carob Spread ‘Shark’s teeth’ celery slices, and vanilla soy yoghurt (no 160b or ‘natural colour’ annatto) with chopped canned pear and papaya
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 4
Choose from: peeled pear and papaya balls; plain rice cakes/crackers Design Your Own Sandwich or *‘Potato Man’ (kidney/green beans, carrot and/or celery slotted into a baked potato to make a ‘potato man’—serve with extra kidney beans in an iceberg lettuce leaf ‘cup’) Spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe) and serve with Bean Dip
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 5 ‘Friday is treat day’
Choose from: banana; peeled pear slices and celery cut into ‘Shark’s teeth’ shapes (not sticks as they may be too chewy) Design Your Own Sandwich or wheat-free sandwich with Banana Carob Spread New Anzac Cookies and/or vanilla soy yoghurt (no 160b or ‘natural colour’ annatto) topped with Banana Carob Spread; or papaya and chopped canned pear
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
(*You can use dinner leftovers for lunch, and most of the recipes in Chapter 18 are suitable. Just be sure to adjust the portions and cut up foods into smaller bite-sizes to suit your child’s age and feeding ability.)

Lunch box menu B (age 3+)

Mid-morning snack

Lunch

Afternoon snack
Day 1
Choose from: peeled and sliced pear; papaya; plain rice cakes/crackers; and Baked Banana Chips Design Your Own Sandwich or *gluten-free pasta spirals with lamb, kidney beans and soft carrot or green beans Carrot sticks with Sesame-free Hummus or Bean Dip, and spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe)
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 2
Choose from: papaya balls (use a melon baller); banana (not sugar variety); plain rice cakes/crackers Design Your Own Sandwich or wheat-free sandwich with thinly sliced chicken (home-cooked or organic) with shredded iceberg lettuce Peeled celery sticks with Sesame-free Hummus (spread in groove), and spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe).
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 3
Pear Muffin and a banana Design Your Own Sandwich or Papaya Rice Paper Rolls Plain rice crackers and peeled carrot sticks with Bean Dip
Water bottle (filtered water)
Pack a freezer block
Day 4
Choose from: papaya; peeled pear (pack a fork); plain rice cakes/crackers Design Your Own Sandwich or *Potato salad with diced potato, kidney beans, celery and iceberg lettuce (and diced papaya for sweetness) Spelt chips (use Spelt Lavash Bread recipe) and serve with Sesame-free Hummus or Parsley Pesto (contains cashews so may not be allowed at school)
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
Day 5 ‘Friday is treat day’
Choose from: Pear Muffin; banana; or Papaya Rice Paper Rolls Design Your Own Sandwich or wheat-free sandwich with Banana Carob Spread New Anzac Cookies or vanilla soy yoghurt (no 160b or ‘natural colour’ annatto) with Banana Carob Spread or papaya and chopped canned pear
Water bottle (filtered water) Pack a spoon and freezer block
(*You can use dinner leftovers for lunch, and most of the recipes in Chapter 18 are suitable. Just be sure to adjust the portions and cut up foods into smaller bite-sizes to suit your child’s age and feeding ability.)

The Eczema Diet: Stage 1

Your child’s skin should show signs of improvement within two to four weeks. And after strictly following the diet and supplement routine for two months your child’s skin condition should be mostly or completely clear. If this does not occur, suspect they are eating something they are sensitive to (for example rice or spelt, which feature heavily in the diet). If your child is not improving refer to Chapter 21, ‘Problem-solving’ for more information.

The Eczema Diet: Stage 2

As eczema symptoms disappear, food variety is expanded to Stage 2. I recommend waiting until your child’s eczema completely disappears before reintroducing foods into the diet in Stage 2. However, if your child is unhappy and wants to eat a greater range of foods, then increase variety sooner rather than later. Stage 2 information can be found in Chapter 17, ‘Stage 2: Expanding the diet’.

General recommendations

• Make your child as comfortable as possible and use their prescribed medicated creams if desired.

• Photocopy the Eczema-safe shopping guide: Stage 1 so you can take it with you when you go grocery shopping.

• If desired, keep a copy of Table 15, ‘How many serves per day for children’ on the fridge.

• If desired, you can photocopy the menus and have them on the fridge and/or use the blank diet diary at the back of the book to record what your child is eating. This can help you identify problematic foods (and beneficial meals) so you can tailor the program to suit your child.

• Before starting the program, read Chapter 12, ‘Getting started’.

• It’s highly recommended that the whole family enjoy the eczema-safe recipes. When families share eczema-safe meals it can help a child with eczema to feel ‘normal’ and compliance is more likely.