A new study found that the lunches prepared by schools offer more nutrition compared to home-packed lunches. The study is the first to evaluate the nutritional value of both lunches.
Study leader Alisha Farris worked with her colleagues from Virginia Tech University observed three elementary schools from Virginia. The researchers made a checklist of all the foods and drinks provided by the school and those brought by kids from their home.
During the five-day observation period, the researchers were able to list 1,314 meals. About 43 percent of the students bring home-packed lunches while 57 percent ate lunch provided by the schools.
In terms of nutrition, the researchers who were nutrition students tracked that the packed lunches were considerably higher in energy, carbohydrates, fat, saturated fat, sugar, Vitamin C, and iron compared to school lunches. But the school lunches were more packed with protein, sodium, fiber, vitamin A and calcium than the packed lunches.
"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," Farris said in a news release.
The researchers attributed the nutritional difference of the lunches to foods served. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) offers more vegetables and fruits on a plate while the packed lunches have dessert items, snack items such as chips and crackers, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
One surprising finding was that despite the prevalence of processed food items in the packed lunches, it had lower sodium content compared to the school lunches. The NLSP set new sodium guidelines to limit its usage.
The researchers concluded that packed lunches are also healthy packed lunches, but school lunches are still better. Farris recommended to parents who still want to do packed lunches to add fruits, vegetables, protein, and dairy to make them healthier.
Other experts are not surprised of the study results. There were previous studies that showed similar results.
"While it is surprising to see the higher sodium content in the school lunch, the nutritional pluses of the school lunch - more fiber, vitamin A and less sugar and saturated fat - make the [nutritional] value aspect of school lunch better," said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, to Healthday News. She is not part of the study.
The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
