Packed lunches less healthy vs. school-provided meals

Despite criticism of the National School Lunch Program, researchers from Texas have found that lunches brought from home were less likely to contain fruits, vegetables and dairy and were higher in fat and/or sugar vs. those purchased at school. These results emphasize the need for research and intervention in packed lunches, they said.

On 3 separate days, researchers observed second-grade children in seven schools from a large suburban school district; 37.5% of the 2,107 observations were of children bringing lunch from home. Using chi-square analyses, the researchers compared food items in the lunches from home and those provided in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

Children who brought lunch from home were significantly less likely to have certain food items compared with those who purchased a school lunch, including fruits (45.3% vs. 75.9%), vegetables (13.2% vs. 29.1%) and dairy (41.8% vs. 70%; P<.001). In addition, lunches from home had more snacks high in sugar and/or fat compared with thosepurchased at school (17.5% vs. 60%), and lacked 100% fruit juice or fruit drinks (0.3% vs. 47.2%; P<.001).

“The NSLP has been widely criticized; however, conducting a comparison in this manner clearly demonstrates advantages to children obtaining lunches from school,” the researchers wrote. “Although it was beyond the scope of this study to examine dietary quality (eg, actual intake and nutrient/caloric density), these results provide compelling evidence that lunches brought from home should be an area of emphasis for research and intervention.”

For more information:

Palcic J. 732-P. Presented at: the 29th Annual Meeting of the Obesity Society; Oct. 1-5, 2011; Orlando, Fla.

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