Summer has come to a close and we’ve seen many of our pediatric patients squeeze their visit in. Now that everyone is going off to school, we want to remind parents and children about healthy foods for their teeth. Our pediatric dental team has gone through the breakfast and lunch menus of elementary schools in Alpharetta, John’s Creek and Roswell to determine what the best food are for kids.

The school menus come from Fulton County, where all the schools participate in the same food menus.

Elementary School Breakfasts in Alpharetta & Johns Creek

The great thing about the food options for the schools, they are recurring and pretty organized. Therefore you don’t have to do a full audit every single day for your child. You can talk with them by looking over the list and talking with them about what foods they should be eating.

If your child is in middle school, we also have a guide for the Alpharetta & Johns Creek Middle School Breakfast and Lunch Guide.

Below are some highlights of what we’d recommend

Yogurt! Yogurt! Yogurt! Every week of the 2018 year, the Alpharetta & Johns Creek schools offer yogurt at least once a week.

Yogurt is a great food for kids and their teeth. It is rich in calcium and protein and has probiotics which helps improve the health of gums. Like anything else however, yogurt can be high in sugar so we encourage kids to make sure that if they can, pick a low sugar yogurt as an option.

If you are not sure, we recommend parents or the child asking if they can be sent the nutritional info of the yogurt.

Assorted Fruits: It’s great that the schools in Alpharetta & Johns Creek have shown a commitment to health. Every single day they offer assorted fruit as an option for breakfast. Now not all fruits are the greatest for your teeth as fruits do tend to have high amounts of sugar in them.

However, most schools and this includes those in Fulton County usually always have apples available. Take it from us, go with the apples!

Apples are high in fiber and have high water contents that increase the mouth’s production of saliva. This helps wash away harmful bacteria.

String Cheese: There is a misconception with many parents that all cheese is bad. However, a study by the American Academy of General Dentistry found that cheese can actually raise the pH levels in your mouth which help fight bacteria and cavities.

This is because cheese has calcium and protein that help strengthen your teeth’s enamel and become stronger when fighting against plaque.

String cheese isn’t an option every day as it only is available twice a month, however if it is an option you can encourage your children to do so.

Note, however that string cheese is served with blueberry muffin which is not so great for your teeth. You may want to ask if your child is able to get one without the other.

Be Careful of Cereal, Nutrition Bars and Pastries

Energy bars are extremely popular for many professionals and parents. On the go and packed with “energy’ these bars are the main sustenance for people on the go. This has trickled down to our children as we want them to be energized and attentive in class.

However, be careful with the nutrition bars the school offers because most bars are held together with sticky starches and sugar. This helps all the carbohydrates found in the bar to get stuck to your teeth.

In addition, if your child is eating other foods the starchiness of the bar will help get other food stuck as well.

Cereals have the same concerns as the energy bars as most cereals for children are high in sugars. However, there are healthy cereals that are not loaded with sugars. It’s good to review what the school closest to you has to offer and determine which is the healthier.

Lastly, muffins and breads are one of the worst foods for your teeth. Compound that with blueberries being one of the sweeter foods, you have a perfect combination of foods that can cause cavities.

Elementary School Lunches in Alpharetta & Johns Creek

The lunch options in the Alpharetta & Johns Creek schools are extensive. Unlike breakfast which repeats the same every two weeks, the lunches are different every day. Each day has about 3 entree options and 3 side options that kids can pick from. We’ll highlight the foods that they should lean towards and those that they want to be careful of.

Healthy Teeth Lunch Entrees in Alpharetta & Johns Crek Schools

Chicken Strips or Nuggets: Lean meats are great for kids to eat. The Alpharetta & Johns Creek school lunches feature chicken quite often throughout the lunch menu with items like chicken sliders, chicken nuggets and chicken drumsticks.

Turkey Options: Looking through the list, the turkey options all are great options for your child as they include cheese with the healthy meat. The options include Turkey & Cheese Wrap, Turkey & Cheese Lunchbox and Turkey Chef Salad. All strong options for your child and the meat isn’t as fatty as others.

Cheese Pizza: Cheese pizza is the item that may be the most common on the lunch menu. Though pizza is not something your child should be eating every single day, if they want to indulge, allow them to do so with cheese pizza. As we’ve mentioned above, cheese is helpful to battling tooth decay and not to mention, who doesn’t like pizza?

Unhealthy Teeth Lunch Entrees in Alpharetta & Johns Creek Schools

When reviewing the school lunches for the Alpharetta & Johns Creek schools, we were actually encouraged to see that there weren’t any major foods that we saw that were too alarming. However, there were still some foods we found that parents should be mindful of:

Avoid Saucy Food: Occasionally in the menu we see foods with a lot of sauce including Mango Chicken, BBQ Pork Sliders and Teriyaki Chicken. These are lathered in sweet sauces that can have high concentration of sugars.

Jamwich Pack: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches are the staple of American lunches. Peanut butter is also a healthy food that can add to a rich diet, however the jam is where the problem lies. Jam is a processed spread that is overly rich in sugars.

Healthy Sides Overall in Alpharetta & Johns Creek School Lunches

Overall the sides that the Alpharetta & Johns Creek school lunches offer are all mostly healthy. There are many fruit and vegetable options that all are great for your child’s teeth. The only items that your child may want to be mindful of is steamed or the excessively starchy foods like French Fries, Tater Tots. However, the schools don’t seem to offer this in excess so when they schools do offer it, it isn’t the end of the world to allow your child to indulge on these special days.

Alpharetta & Johns Creek’s After School Snacks

Many parents are unaware that the schools in Alpharetta & Johns Creek also provide after school snacks to children.

When we looked through list of after school snacks, there were many more food items that stood out to us. Unlike the school lunch menu where children will be eating a full meal, the snack is a small portion of food.

Because your child is eating less, less saliva is produced and if the food is starchier or higher in sugar content, the food they eat can be more susceptible to cause issues.

When looking through the list we found many cheese based snacks including Cheez-its and Cheddar Goldfish. Though these have cheese, these foods are unlike string cheese. These are baked and when eat can often clump and get stuck in teeth. Kids need to be careful with eating these kind of snacks every day.

There are healthy options as well including fresh apples, carrots and cheese sticks. However, unlike Lunch and Breakfast, there are no alternatives if a food is unhealthy or bad for teeth.

Getting Information About School Lunches

Often times it’s best for a parent to be able to see the food that would be served up close. This is because sometimes foods are modified for children consumption. This can often be for the better where foods like cereals or chips are made healthier by reducing sugar.

For those parents that would like to know more about their schools, here’s a list of contact info below:

Alpharetta

Alpharetta Elementary School
192 Mayfield Road
Alpharetta, GA 30009
(470) 254-7015

Creek View Elementary School
3995 Webb Bridge Road
Alpharetta, GA 30005
(470) 254-2932

Lake Windward Elementary School
11770 E. Fox Court
Alpharetta, GA 30005
(470) 254-7050

Manning Oaks Elementary School
405 Cumming Street
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(470) 254-2912

New Prospect Elementary School
3055 Kimball Bridge Road
Alpharetta, GA 30022
(470) 254-2800

Johns Creek

Abbots Hill Elementary School
5575 Abbotts Bridge Road
Johns Creek, GA 30097
770-667-2860

Barnwell Elementary School
9425 Barnwell Road
Johns Creek, GA 30022
770-552-4960

Dolvin Elementary School
10495 Jones Bridge Road
Johns Creek, GA 30022
770-740-7020

Findley Oaks Elementary School
5880 Findley Chase Drive
Johns Creek, GA 30097
770-497-3800

Medlock Bridge Elementary School
10215 Medlock Bridge Parkway
Johns Creek, GA 30022
770-623-2980

Ocee Elementary School
4375 Kimball Bridge Road
Johns Creek, GA 30022
770-667-2960

Shakerag Elementary School
10885 Rogers Circle
Johns Creek, GA 30097
770-497-3880

State Bridge Crossing Elementary School
5530 State Bridge Road
Johns Creek, GA 30022
770-497-3850

Wilson Creek Elementary School
6115 Wilson Road
Johns Creek, GA 30097
770-497-3811

The reason we put this together was to try and create the most practical use of a lunch guide we possibly could.

If there is any food you feel like we left off or an elementary school in Alpharetta or Johns Creek we left off, please leave us a comment.

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Teeth Healthy Alpharetta & Johns Creek Elementary School Food Options