Healthy lunchboxes for kids - they're a rarity, says research

by Elizabeth
(Healthy Eating Made Easy)

11 January 2010 In a check on the lunchboxes of 1300 8-9 year olds, only one per cent - that's only 13 kids - had a packed lunch that met nutritional guidelines for school lunches set down by the UK government.

Over a quarter had foods that have been banned from lunches provided by schools since 2006 - soft drinks, salty snacks and sweets/chocolate, reports BBC News.

The school meals standard for lunches served at school say that a well-balanced lunch should contain healthy protein such as chicken or tuna, a low-fat carbohydrate like pasta or wholegrain bread, some dairy produce like a yogurt or finger of cheese, and servings of fresh fruit and veg. Yet shockingly, only one lunch box in five could muster any salad or fresh vegetables.

Part of the problem? We still equate 'treat food' like choccy biscuits with love - so we show our kids how much we care by popping a sweet treat into the box. Ease is another part of the equation. It's simpler to buy a giant bag of packs of crisps and chuck one into the lunchbox every day, than it is to peel and slice a carrot every morning.

As parents, we need to take this problem seriously, and make sure we do provide healthy lunch boxes for our kids, as well as giving them healthy meals at home, and setting a good role model ourselves, by eating healthily and cutting right down on junk foods. The health of the next generation lies in our hands.