School lunchboxes concern health experts
Three out of four school lunchboxes fail to meet basic nutritional standards, according to new research from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
In its analysis of 688 lunchboxes at 28 schools the FSA found that since last year’s survey the amount of fat in an average lunchbox has increased by three grams, with saturated fat increasing by one gram.
The average child is eating double the recommended lunchtime intake of saturated fat and sugar, with three in four lunchboxes (74 per cent) failing to meet the recommended Government nutritional standards set in 2001.
With growing concerns about obesity health experts have been trying to push home healthy eating messages.
The majority of fat present in the lunchboxes came from traditional “unhealthy” foods such as crisps and chocolate.
Just under half of the lunchboxes surveyed (48 per cent) failed to contain a portion of fruit or chopped vegetables.
Within the figures, there are some interesting regional disparities. The south east, normally the most affluent and health conscious area, provided the worst packed lunches with only 20 per cent meeting nutritional standards. The north west was the best, with 36 per cent of lunches meeting the required standards.
Though obesity is still not the problem it is in the US, one in ten six-year-olds is obese, with the total number of obese children having doubled since 1982.
The Government has signalled its determination to tackle the problem through a range of polices from increasing exercise to encouraging healthy eating, but today’s results seem to indicate that many of the healthy eating messages are not getting through to children and their parents.
