School Lunches Offer Better Average Nutrition than Packed Lunches

Philadelphia, PA, November 10, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Approximately 60% of the more than 50 million public elementary and secondary education students obtain a substantial portion of their daily calories from school lunches. The 2012–2013 National School Lunch Program (NSLP) nutritional standards govern what those students eat; for those who bring packed lunches, there are no nutritional standards, however. With that in mind, researchers from Virginia Tech compared school lunches with packed lunches and found that school lunches have greater nutritional quality.

“Ours is the first study comparing packed lunches to NSLP lunches over a five-day period among pre-K and kindergarten students following the implementation of new nutrition standards,” said lead author Alisha R. Farris, MS, RD. “We found that both packed and school lunches almost entirely met nutrition standards, except school lunches were below energy and iron recommendations, whereas packed lunches exceeded fat and saturated fat recommendations.”

To assess lunches, the researchers observed three rural Virginia elementary schools. An observational checklist was used to record all food and drinks served as part of the NSLP or brought from home. Each researcher was assigned a specific grouping of students to observe for a lunch period, approximately 10 students per researcher. Undergraduate and graduate nutrition students were recruited and trained as observers.

Using descriptive statistics researchers described the nutritional quality of the lunches. A total of 1,314 lunches were observed, with 42.8% packed and 57.2% provided by the schools. Energy, carbohydrates, fat, saturated fat, sugar, vitamin C, and iron were significantly higher for packed lunches compared to school lunches, whereas protein, sodium, fiber, vitamin A and calcium were significantly lower for packed lunches compared to school lunches.

Some of the discrepancies may be explained by the NSLP providing increased exposure to fruits and vegetables compared to packed lunches or higher solid fats and added sugars in packed lunches because of a higher prevalence of dessert items, savory snack items, and sugar-sweetened beverages. However, sodium content was higher in school lunches than packed lunches despite packed lunches providing many processed foods in the form of pre-packaged ready-to-eat items.

The study was limited by not measuring actual consumption of food items and not conducting student-level analyses. Still, the findings suggest that nutrition education programs targeting children, parents, and perhaps even school policy around packed lunches should be encouraged to promote healthier options within packed lunches.

“Habits develop in early childhood and continue into adolescence and adulthood. Therefore, this is a critical time to promote healthy eating. Determining the many factors which influence the decision to participate in the NSLP or bring a packed lunch from home is vital to addressing the poor quality of packed lunches,” commented lead investigator Elena L. Serrano, PhD, Family Nutrition Program Project Director, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech.

---

Notes for Editors                                            
“Nutritional Comparison of Packed and School Lunches in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children following the Implementation of the 2012-2013 National School Lunch Program Standards,” by Alisha R. Farris, MS, RD, Sarah Misyak, PhD, Kiyah J. Duffey, PhD, George C. Davis, PhD, Kathy Hosig, PhD, RD, Naama Atzaba-Poria, PhD, Mary M. McFerren, EdD, and Elena L. Serrano, PhD (DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2014.07.007], Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 46/Issue 6 (November-December 2014), published by Elsevier. 

Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Eileen Leahy at +1 732 238 3628 or jnebmedia@elsevier.com to obtain copies. To schedule an interview with the authors, please contact Alisha Farris, PhD, Student Virginia Tech, at +1 540 818 0173 or alisha@vt.edu.

An audio podcast featuring an interview with Alisha R. Farris, MS, RD, and information specifically for journalists are located at www.jneb.org/content/podcast. Excerpts from the podcast may be reproduced by the media; contact Eileen Leahy to obtain permission.

About the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (www.jneb.org)
The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB), is a refereed, scientific periodical that serves as a resource for all professionals with an interest in nutrition education and dietary/physical activity behaviors. The purpose of JNEB is to document and disseminate original research, emerging issues, and practices relevant to nutrition education and behavior worldwide and to promote healthy, sustainable food choices. It supports the society’s efforts to disseminate innovative nutrition education strategies, and communicate information on food, nutrition, and health issues to students, professionals, policy makers, targeted audiences, and the public.

The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior features articles that provide new insights and useful findings related to nutrition education research, practice, and policy. The content areas of JNEB reflect the diverse interests of health, nutrition, education, Cooperative Extension, and other professionals working in areas related to nutrition education and behavior. As the Society's official journal, JNEB also includes occasional policy statements, issue perspectives, and member communications.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey — and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact
Eileen Leahy
Elsevier
+1 732 238 3628
jnebmedia@elsevier.com