Comparison of Nutrient Content and Cost of Home Packed and Reimbursable School Lunches

A Comparison of Fruits, Vegetables, Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, and Desserts in the Packed Lunches of Elementary School Children

“…[9][10][11] The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a promising avenue to influence the dietary quality of children. 12,13 However, whereas approximately 60% of children participate in the NSLP, 40% of children do not participate. 14 These children are presumably packing lunches, especially in elementary schools, which most likely do not offer ''competitive'' foods and do not have open campuses.…”

“…12,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] These studies used a wide variety of dietary data collection methods covering different time frames (e.g., 24-hour recalls and 1-to 3-day food observations) and were conducted with a variety of ages ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. To our knowledge, no studies reported data over a full school week (5 consecutive days), with prekindergarten classes attending school, or compared differences among packed lunches between students.…”

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

“…1 These children spend a substantial portion of their waking hours and consume a substantial portion of their daily calories at school. 2,3 For approximately 60% of children, these calories are derived from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP); the remaining 40% are from packed lunches. 4 During the past few years, there have been significant shifts in NSLP participation, with decreases from 31.8 million average daily meals in 2011 to 31.6 million in 2012, 5 which translates into more children consuming packed lunches.…”

“…2,4,[8][9][10][11][12][13] Existing studies used a variety of data collection methods and timeframes such as 24-hour recalls and 1-to 3-day food observations and were conducted with a variety of ages ranging from kindergarten (K) to 12th grade. 2,4,[8][9][10][11][12][13] No studies reported data over a full school week (5 days) with pre-K classes attending public school and compared with the new NSLP standards. The purpose of this study was to examine the nutritional quality of packed lunches compared with school lunches served to pre-K and K children attending public school over 5 consecutive school days after implementation of the 2012 NSLP standards.…”

Examining How Adding a Booster to a Behavioral Nutrition Intervention Prompts Parents to Pack More Vegetables and Whole Gains in Their Preschool Children's Sack Lunches

“…But sack lunches parents actually pack for their young children to eat at the early care and education (ECE) center or school seldom contain adequate servings of vegetables or whole grain foods, often include foods of low nutrient density such as chips and cookies and sweetened beverages, and have been shown to supply less than one-third of the recommended Dietary Reference Intake for energy, calcium, iron, and other essential nutrients. 9–16 …”