Cafeteria Lunches Better Than Brown Bag?

New information suggests that students are nutritionally better off eating school-provided lunches rather than those made at home.

OnlineSchools.com, a digital resource for online education from kindergarten to graduate school, released information (see infographic at right, Courtesy of OnlineSchools.com) showing the surprising health comparison between lunches that parents make for their children and the meals served in school cafeterias. While the findings run contradictory to popular perception, the truth is that because of the nutritional standards required of school cafeterias, students get better nutrition by purchasing lunch at school. 

The information also finds that the majority of packed lunches contain a sandwich, a piece of fruit, and a milk-based dessert such as pudding; however, packed lunches are also rife with sweets, chips, and sugary drinks, which are all banned by U.K. nutritional standards. In fact, 25 percent of packed lunches contain all three of these items.

“Getting to consume junk food is obviously a staple of being a kid,” said Seth Restaino, OnlineSchools.com spokesperson. “But ultimately, parents should be focusing on providing a healthy balance in their student’s lunch box that will ensure they are getting the proper nutrition to remain focused in the classroom.”

Additionally, when left to choose from items in their lunchbox, children are likely to eat high-sugar, low-nutrition foods before they eat the fruit that may be packed. By eliminating the sugary items from kids’ lunches, parents will have a better control over what goes into children’s bodies. 

“Hopefully this infographic will help parents be more conscious about what goes into their child’s lunchbox,” said Restaino. “Additionally, the U.K. nutritional standards are something that I would like to see adapted worldwide, especially in light of recent childhood obesity statistics.”

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