The back-to-school season is the perfect time for shoppers to recommit to nutritious eating habits. While grocery stores will be catering to parents with lunchbox fillers focused on convenience and trends, we’re here to help keep nutrition in mind. Here are three easy ways for shoppers to start the school year on a nutritious note.

Sustainable Habits

Parents face the challenge of making sure their kids are getting balanced nutrition from their packed lunches and after-school snacks. We have a few tips for making balanced, filling snacks from Guiding Stars dietitian, Allison Stowell, that can help your shoppers start and sustain healthy snacking habits all year. If your store is one of our partners, you can also encourage shoppers to follow Guiding Stars for quick, in-store guidance that can take some of the guesswork out of finding nutritious snacks their kids will love.

Back to the Dinner Table

The start of a new school year is a great time to make family meals part of the routine. Eating together as a family has proven benefits for kids’ overall health, development and behavior. It doesn’t have to be dinner, either — spending time together for any meal can encourage healthy relationships with food and instill lasting habits around good nutrition. Encourage your shoppers to plan 3-4 meals as a family per week and use these Guiding Stars tips and recipes for inspiration.

Shopping Made Fun

Let kids in on the fun. At participating stores, Guiding Stars’ nutrition guidance shelf tags are on the shelves near the product price, so shoppers of all ages can quickly spot the items that earn stars. Products that meet the science-based nutritional threshold earn stars; the more stars, the more nutritional value. It’s a simple thing kids can do and a great way to get them involved in making nutritious choices for their lunchbox. If they help choose it, they’re more likely to eat it.

All About Guiding Stars

Guiding Stars is an ideal resource for those who want to get the school year off to a nutritious start. The science-based nutrition program provides simple star ratings on participating stores’ shelf tags, so nutritious choices are easy to find. Plus, Guiding Stars offers online resources for easy recipes and healthy living.

If your stores do not have Guiding Stars yet, the Food Finder website (also an app) is a free resource that allows shoppers to look up any food in our database to see its nutritional breakdown and star rating. Interested in offering Guiding Stars available at your stores? Contact us to learn more here. Follow the stars on social: @guidingstarsnutrition