Amazingly, despite the very basic fact that the food we provide our children is quite literally their bodies' building blocks, it would appear as if we're building our kids out of sugar and salt.
Researchers over in the UK wanted to get a better look at packed lunches and so they undertook at cross-sectional survey that had 1,294 8-9 year old kids from 89 different British public schools work with researchers on a tool called the, "Lunch Box Evaluation Questionnaire".
The results weren't heartwarming.
Sandwiches were the most commonly packed foods and were most unfortunately followed by candy, savory snacks and sweetened drinks. The food least eaten? Fruit. Most eaten? Candy.
Only 5.1% of packed lunches met what the study referred to as a "healthy standard" which consisted of, "a sandwich with protein filling (or alternative starchy and protein food), some vegetables, fruit, and a dairy product". 40% had both a confection and a savory snack (candies or cookies and chips). The average number of added teaspoons of sugar/lunch? 10.
Those sure don't sound like ideal building blocks.
Evans, C., Greenwood, D., Thomas, J., & Cade, J. (2010). A cross-sectional survey of children's packed lunches in the UK: food- and nutrient-based results Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 64 (11), 977-983 DOI: 10.1136/jech.2008.085977
[Hat tip to my friend and colleague Sara Kirk]
Posts
Ugh. It's true. My oldest daughter feels freakish because she doesn't get a lunch full of gummies and granola bars.
ReplyDeleteAssuming we don't have appropriate dinner leftovers to send for her lunch, she gets a sandwich (typically turkey breast and cheddar on multigrain bread), a couple pieces of fruit, a yogurt and her aluminum water bottle. For a treat I'll pack a fruit leather or a fruit cup packed in juice, or, very occasionally, a Kashi granola bar.
Our family is far from having a perfect diet, but it worries me what other parents seem to think is appropriate lunch fare for their children.
I'm a primary teacher so I can definitely attest to the findings of this study! It's sad and scary how unhealthy my students' lunches are. Vegetables are rare and fruit in its natural form is uncommon.
ReplyDeleteI send home a note at the start of the year requesting that parents send their child at least 1 healthy snack for the morning. There are some that wouldn't even have that much if I didn't put emphasis on it!
This is sad, but it's not new.
ReplyDeleteI'm 58 and I had cookies every day in my lunch bag, and when I got home from school there would be cookies and milk waiting for me, and we'd have cake or other dessert after dinner.
The difference is that none of my sweet treats were store-bought, everything was lovingly made from scratch by my mother.
Around here (Atlantic Can), there is still a cultural idea that sweets are a loving treat, and cutting out "just a little treat" is being mean to the child.
You've got worse foes than "Big Food" when it comes to improving diet -you're fighting a culture of food that says everybody "needs" a treat (fruit does NOT count)
Growing up, I explained to my mom my anger and sadness at not getting chips in my lunch like the other kids, or not getting money for the vending machines, like the other kids. My mom explained to me that she loved me and she wanted what was best for me and my health. She told me it was very important to eat really well now, because it would pay off in the long run. She said that she didn't give me junk food, because she cared about my health. Maybe I'm more of a sucker for mushy feelings than other kids, because that was enough to make me super happy about eating my carrot and celery snacks. In my head I thought, "Yeah, you have chips, so what. My mom LOVES ME."
ReplyDeleteto Patti- good for your mom!!
ReplyDeleteEvery day, we give my daughter a well-balanced lunch free of chips, candy and cookies (occasionally there's a very small treat). And every day her lunchbox returns with very little eaten -- rarely does she eat the fruit or vegetable we give her, even though they are things she eats at other times. She prefers to drink water over milk. I'm okay with it -- it's our responsibility to pack a healthy lunch but we can't make her eat it. But it drives my husband crazy.
ReplyDeletekids lunches would have a better chance of being healthy if kids had access to fridges, freezers & microwaves.
ReplyDeletethey don't.
I'm a teacher too and the worst food I see at school comes out of the school canteen.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me so sad. I wish parents would put as much effort into learning about nutrition as they do into researching a new car or tv.
ReplyDeleteMy kids don't ask for junky snacks b/c I have never bought them. They get fruit leather or fruit cups in water for a treat, and I bake whole wheat low sugar snacks instead of buying granola bars. It's not hard, it just takes conscientious thinking and a bit of planning.
I make a point of packing a healthy lunch for my 5 year old daughter - lean proteins, whole grains, fresh fruit, lowfat milk or water to drink, etc. She eats it happily because she has never known anything else.
ReplyDeleteWhat frustrates me is our rotating snack schedule. The kids get a morning snack provided on a rotating basis by the parents. Last week a mother brought in 2 dozen DUNKIN DONUTS!!! I don't serve my kid donuts and, if she has anything remotely resembling a donut, she would never, ever, ever get an entire donut to eat.
I feel undone when these kinds of things happen. Why on earth would a parent do that? I guess I need to also send her own snack, but shouldn't I be confident the other parents aren't going to sabatoge all the work I do to provide nutritious food options? And where was the teacher when the snacks were being doled out. They're Kindergarteners, for pete's sake. Just imagine the sugar-induced chaos!!