Lower Highly Processed Foods in Packed Lunches

Children who eat school lunch are provided foods that meet the Dietary Guidelines for American standards for the National School Lunch Program. But half of school-age children bring their packed lunch from home, as well as snacks for the school day. Harvard researchers conducted a seven-month long study of third and fourth graders to assess the amount of highly processed foods packed for lunches and snacks, and then to educate the children and their caretakers about less processed foods from a health perspective and environmental impact.

The researchers assessed the foods in the packed lunches and categorized them into three areas:

• 1 - less processed - very little added or taken away such as milk, dried fruit or nuts
• 2 - moderately processed such as flavored yogurt, whole-grain breads and no-sugar-added cereals
• 3 - highly processed - added sugar, fat, and/or salt; things removed like fiber

The researchers found that 61% of the foods in packed lunches were highly processed, and 78% of the packed snacks were highly processed. Snacks for kids usually provide 25% of their daily calories.

The researchers trained school staff to provide education intervention to a subset of the students and their families. They learned about:

• The changes in foods going from farm to table
• Levels of processing used by the food industry
• The impact of processing on nutrients
• How processing has an impact on the environment

Parents want to pack their child's lunch, often giving the reason that it will be nutritionally superior to school-provided lunches. They also make decisions on what to pack based on time, convenience, space, perishability, and of course, their child's preference. But the end result may not be as favorable nutrition-wise as they are imagining. What is also interesting from this study that even after a 22-lesson classroom curriculum with homework assignments that involved the family, newsletters, grocery shopping lists and lunch packing guide, food demonstrations, and a poster contest, there was very little difference in the amount of highly processed foods packed in lunches or for snacks at the end of the study. Researchers are not sure why but it does underscore challenges in nudging entrenched food choices toward healthier options, in this case, with less highly processed foods.

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About the Author

Rita Smith is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She's been working in the field of nutrition and disease prevention for more than 35 years and currently works at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. Each week, Rita provides nutrition counseling to clients who have a variety of disorders or diseases including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroparesis and weight management. For these clients, food choices can help them manage their health problems.