If you have growing kids, you know how important good nutrition is. But when our own government has a history of considering things like ketchup and pizza “vegetables,” it’s hard to feel confident our kids are getting the nutrition they need from their school lunches.
Packing your child’s lunches gives you more control over what they’re eating—if they actually eat it. Kids are notoriously picky eaters, especially when it comes to healthy choices. To help parents strategize, Crestline surveyed parents and kids across the U.S. to find out what makes school lunches kid-approved.
What Parents Want
Of course, parents want their kids to be healthy—but more than that, they want their kids to be actually eating. Slipping a cookie or two into a child’s lunch guarantees they’re getting some kind of sustenance, even if it isn’t the most ideal.
Nearly 1 in 2 parents say the reason they pack their child’s lunch is because their kiddos are picky eaters. And while 1 in 2 Americans say it’s more important to pack a healthy lunch for their child, 63% aim to pack a lunch they know their child will finish, which sometimes means giving them a treat.
Overall, fresh fruit, chips, and sandwiches with deli meat are the most common items packed in kids’ lunches. Parents also prefer packing lunches over letting their kids eat from the cafeteria because it’s cheaper, with nearly 70% of parents spending less than $5 per lunch on average.
What Kids Want
As you can imagine, kids’ favorite school lunch items are mostly junk food and sweets. However, one healthy food item makes the top 10 outranking cookies, brownies, candy, and fruit snacks: fresh fruit. Sitting at #2 on the list, fresh fruit is only topped by pizza (#1).
Most kids (63%) prefer a packed lunch to what they can get in the cafeteria, especially if their parents pack the foods they like. This doesn’t mean their lunches are filled with junk, either—healthy foods can be just as appealing if they’re your kids’ favorites or you jazz them up.
Parents make school lunches fun by personalizing them for their kids. While 3 in 10 parents include personal notes, 1 in 8 parents use themes in their lunches. Some parents make the food itself more fun to eat, with 1 in 6 using shape cutouts and 1 in 5 including more colorful choices.
States with the Best School Lunches
According to Crestline’s survey, the states with the most kid-approved lunches are Tennessee, South Carolina, and Illinois.
In Tennessee, the most common items packed in kids’ lunches include fresh fruit, sandwiches with deli meat, and chips. Can’t go wrong with such a classic meal, considering Tennessee tops our list.
South Carolinians tend to dedicate more than 20 minutes of their day to packing their child’s lunch, slightly longer than the U.S. average of 10 to 15 minutes. This extra time may mean more thought and care goes into these meals, something their kids clearly appreciate.
And in Illinois, parents are most likely to mix up what they’re making for lunch. However, it’s never a bad idea to stick to what you know your kids like, having some variety might make the school lunch experience more exciting and appetizing.
Nutrition Is Key
If a state doesn’t rank high on our list, it doesn’t mean they don’t provide healthy lunches for their kids—it just might not be their kids’ favorite foods. And in spite of some past foibles, the lunches schools provide to kids are nutritious.
Kids in the school lunch program get whole grains, milk, fruits, and vegetables, sometimes more consistently than non-participants, according to the CDC. Some schools also have breakfast programs, which are associated with better attendance and test scores.
So the next time you’re running late, or your kid forgot the lunch you packed, you can rest assured they’re still getting a good meal in the school cafeteria.
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