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  • Title: 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.
    Author: Farris AR, Misyak S, Duffey KJ, Davis GC, Hosig K, Atzaba-Poria N, McFerren MM, Serrano EL.
    Journal: J Nutr Educ Behav; 2014; 46(6):621-6. PubMed ID: 25457731.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: Approximately 40% of children bring a packed lunch to school. Little is known about the quality of these lunches. This study examined the nutritional quality of packed lunches compared with school lunches for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children after the implementation of 2012-2013 National School Lunch Program standards. METHODS: The researchers collected observational data for packed and school lunches from 3 schools in rural Virginia for 5 consecutive school days and analyzed them for macro and micro nutrients. RESULTS: Of the 1,314 observations collected; 42.8% were packed lunches (n = 562) and 57.2% were school lunches (n = 752). Energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar, vitamin C, and iron were significantly higher whereas protein, sodium, fiber, vitamin A, and calcium were significantly lower for packed lunches than school lunches. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Packed lunches were of less nutritional quality than school lunches. Additional research is needed to explore factors related to choosing packed over school lunches.
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