With the start of the school year, parents will once again be packing their child's lunches.

Now is a time to start think about healthier alternatives.

Public Health Nutritionist with the Five Hills Health Region, Melanie Warken was part of a study that found that 22% are either at risk of being overweight, are overweight, or are obese.

She adds that this time of the year is perfect for making heallthier choices, "the summer is fabulous, we have access to the farmers market, and community gardens or if you don't have space in your own yard, local foods are available for sale."

Warken says that it is important to have guidelines set in place to make sure that kids are eating healthy and getting enough physical activity.

"Children have different environments, so they have environments where they live, they have environments where they learn, and they have environments where they play so part of my job is to work with those different areas to see how we can create healthier environments for our children so it all starts with creating policies or guidelines that help support healthy choices."

She added that your child's develoment depends on their nutrition.