Search: Healthy lunchboxes
Chocolate bars, biscuits or cakes feature in the majority of children's lunchboxes, a study has revealed.
With one in two youngsters returning to school with a packet of crisps in their packed lunches, parents were advised to think about the nutritional value of the food they give their children.
Three-quarters of those polled said their children took a packed lunch to school with varying degrees of regularity, while 25% said they never did.
The School Lunchbox Nutrition Study by grocery shopping comparison website mySupermarket showed 93% of those lunchboxes contained either a fun size chocolate bar, biscuits or a slice of cake on a daily basis. Crisps featured in 50% of children's packed lunches, with just 12% of parents including low fat crisps, while other unhealthy snacks like processed cheese (29%) found their way into lunchboxes, according to the survey.
When it came to sandwiches, 60% of mums and dads admitted choosing white bread over the more nutritional brown option. The most popular fillings were cheese (55%) closely followed by processed ham (44%).
Although the poll revealed more than a third of schoolchildren took a piece of fruit in their lunchbox, just one in five lunchboxes contained salad.
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The typical lunchbox containing a ham sandwich, a packet of ready salted crisps, a fun size chocolate bar, a yoghurt and a piece of fruit would contain approximately 40g of sugar, 4.45g salt and a total of 760 calories, mySupermaket.com said.
But the study also revealed some healthy signs with 60% of parents describing their children's typical evening meal as home-made with meat and vegetables compared with none saying it was a burger or take-away and 2% suggesting pizza.
Almost two-thirds of respondents (65%) said they believed their children had a well balanced diet, while 26% admitted their child's diet was a "little unhealthy" and 2% said it was very unhealthy.
Dr Mabel Blades, independent dietician and nutritionist, said: "What children and teenagers eat has an impact on their health, behaviour and ability to learn. It is a shame if young people having a packed lunch miss out on balanced nutrition."
