School lunches fail nutrition guidelines

BRITTON BROUN/Dominion Post

HEALTHY EATING: Jim Gardiner, 9, left, and Trevell Mamea-Beales, 10. Jim says he would happily eat junk food all the time.

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Only one in 10 packed school lunches meet nutritional guidelines - and children who do get healthy food throw it away, a study has found.

Some of the findings have amazed Massey University researchers who surveyed the contents of more than 900 lunchboxes at primary schools in the Manawatu.

Emma Dresler-Hawke said most lunchboxes contained food with moderate to high levels of fat, sugar and especially salt.

A packet of chips contained half a child's daily salt intake - but in some instances there were three packets. Though the lunchboxes met the standards for bread, there was not enough fruit and vegetables.

Almost half had cakes, biscuits, muffins or muesli bars of varying nutritional value, Dr Dresler-Hawke said. But she was appalled when her team found 80 per cent of the food thrown in school bins - much of it unwrapped - was the nutritious items like sandwiches, yoghurt and fruit.

Nine-year-old Jim Gardiner, from Milson School in Palmerston North, thought that was to be expected. "Kids don't like eating healthy stuff because it isn't nice and junk food is. You always eat it first. It tastes good and is full of sugar."

Jim was munching on a banana at lunch yesterday, but he would happily eat junk food all the time if he could - provided he brushed his teeth.

Milson School has tried to tackle the problem by implementing a zero-waste policy, which means pupils have to take their uneaten food home.

Principal Barrie Eccles said an "obesity epidemic" was a concern in the entire school system and the measure allowed parents to work out why their children were not eating certain foods and "do something constructive about it".

Milson School had also implemented a compulsory 10 to 15 minutes during morning tea and lunch breaks to make sure pupils were eating.

Mothers spoken to outside the school said they bought pre-packaged lunch snacks because of the convenience and because their kids demanded it.

"It's the marketing and they want what their friends have," one woman said. "But it's good they bring their food home. With my daughter, if she hasn't eaten her sandwiches I won't give her chippies the next day."

Dr Dresler-Hawke said the low nutrition in school lunches did not vary much across decile ratings, and she called for school management to work closely with parents and kids to develop a food policy.

"Nutrition in children is one of our most pressing health challenges and parents need to be more informed," she said.

Though the Government was pushing for healthy alternatives to pies and lollies in high school tuckshops, Mr Eccles did not want to be telling his students what they should eat.

"It's the parents' responsibility and I don't see it as our role. We have a health programme that educates the kids about nutrition, and some of that filters back to the parents."