Survey reveals children's lunchboxes are still packed with saturated fat, salt and sugar

Wednesday 1 September 2004

Agency issues updated lunchbox ideas, top tips and advice

Ref: 2004/0509

The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) second survey of school lunchboxes reveals that children who take a packed lunch to school are still eating far too much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in one meal.

From lunchbox foods alone, children are eating double the recommended lunchtime intake of saturated fat and sugar* and up to half their daily recommended salt intake.

Three out of four lunchboxes (74%) also fail to meet Government nutritional standards that were set for school meals in 2001.

With an estimated 5.5 billion** lunchboxes packed for children each year in the UK, and with nine out of ten surveyed children choosing to take a packed lunch to school each day, the FSA recognises the challenges parents face when putting together nutritious, practical and affordable packed lunches that their children will actually eat.

To support parents, the FSA has provided a range of information on the Agency's website: www.food.gov.uk that includes:

• two months' worth of simple lunchbox suggestions
• top lunchbox recipes – for parents and children to make together
• top tips on how to reduce sugar, saturated fat and salt in lunchbox foods
• nutritional guidelines for parents – what foods school children need to stay healthy
• information for schools on the FSA's Cooking Bus

The survey, which looked at 688 home-packed lunchboxes for children from 28 schools across England, revealed that since last year the amount of fat in an average child's lunchbox has increased by 3 grams, of which saturated fat has increased by 1g.

The most popular lunchbox food items were sandwiches or rolls which were present in eight out of ten packed lunches (82%); a packet of crisps (69%); dairy items such as yoghurts, cheese or milk based products (59%); biscuits or chocolate bars (58%); and cakes and cereal bars (29%).

Food item	2004 Survey Results (%)	2003 Survey Results (%)	Difference (%)
Total bread based food items:	84	87	- 3%
- sandwiches/rolls	82	84	- 2%
- white bread	69	79	- 10%
- wholemeal/granary	13.7	4.5	+ 9%
- no bread based foods	16	13	+ 3%
crisps	69	71	- 2%
dairy items	59	48	+ 11%
choc bar/biscuits	58	60	- 2%
cake and cereal bars	29	28	+ 1%
confectionery	3	4.5	- 1.5%
fruit/veg	52	49	+ 3%
drinks containing sugar	76	47	+ 29%

The majority of fat present in the surveyed lunchbox foods was shown to come from crisps, fat spreads, cheese products, chocolate bars and biscuits.

Foods contributing to high salt intake included white bread, crisps and processed meats, and the higher levels of added sugars came mainly from fruit squashes, chocolate-covered bars and biscuits and yoghurts.

The survey also revealed that under a fifth of lunchboxes (16%) did not contain a starchy food such as sandwiches, pasta or rice, and that just under half the lunchboxes surveyed (48%) failed to contain a portion of fruit or chopped veg. Only one lunchbox contained a salad.

Nutritional standards state that school meals must offer at least:

• one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables
• one portion of milk or dairy item
• one portion of meat, fish or other protein source
• one portion of a starchy food, such as bread, pasta or rice

Sam Montel, nutritionist at the Food Standards Agency, said: 'Parents want the best for their children, but everybody knows how difficult and stressful it can be to get children to eat a wider range of different and healthier foods.

'Our survey findings revealed that children need to eat more starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice, fruit and veg and dairy foods such as yoghurts; so the Agency has incorporated these foods into two months' worth of lunchbox suggestions.

'We have selected some quick and simple lunchbox recipes that children and their parents can make together. These will show children that healthy eating can be fun and will stimulate kids' interest through different colours, shapes and tastes and will help them try a wider range of foods.

'We all know that what children eat now can have a big impact on their diet and health in the future and that there is nothing wrong with children having the odd snack – but these should be eaten in moderation and as part of a varied and balanced diet.'

Notes to editors

An FSA spokesperson is available for interviews. Please contact Sarah Read or Shaun Whelan on 020 7276 8888.

* This figure relates to total sugars and therefore contains fruit and milk sugars as well as added sugars.

** Mintel Report (2002)

Nutritional guidelines for schools were introduced in 2001 by the Department for Education and Skills with the aim of improving children's diets.

Primary schools must offer at least one fruit and one vegetable portion, one milk or dairy item, one portion of meat, fish or other protein source and one starchy food, such as bread, pasta or rice.

Similar guidelines apply to secondary schools, although the number of portions offered tends to be larger as more choice is offered.

Research was carried out by the Community Nutrition Group of the British Dietetics Association on behalf of the Food Standards Agency.

The survey, which included 688 lunchboxes, was carried out in 28 schools across England (North West, North East, Midlands, South East and South West).

The sample of schools was selected to represent a cross section of rural and urban schools, and socioeconomic areas within each region.

A minimum of 100 pupils from four schools were also surveyed in each region.

Surveying primarily took place during the weeks commencing May 24 and June 7 2004.

Schools that took part in the survey include:

South East

Three Bridges Primary School, Southall, London
St Nicolas' C of E School, Newbury
Fir Tree County Junior School, Wallingford
Queenswell Community Junior School, Whetstone, London
Edgware Community Junior, Edgware, London
Grove Park Primary School, London
West Ashtead Primary, West Ashtead
Brent County Primary School, Dartford

South West

St Peters C of E School, Swindon
West Cliff Primary School, Dawlish, Devon
Torre C of E Primary, Torquay
Foxhole Junior School, Paignton

Midlands

Birchensale Middle School, Redditch
Welbourne Primary School, Peterborough
Lawn Primary School, Allestree, Derbyshire
East Dene Junior School, Rotherham
Gladstone Primary School, Peterborough
John Clare Primary School, Helpston

North East

Kippax North Junior & Infant, Leeds
Tow Law Millennium Primary, Bishop Auckland
Western Community Primary, Wallsend
West Cornforth Primary, West Cornforth
St Nicholas' Primary, Hull
Withernsea Junior School, Withernsea

North West

Didsbury Primary, Manchester
Varna Street, Manchester
Heswall Primary, Wirral
St Josephs RC Primary, Heywood

The nutritional profile of the lunchboxes was obtained using CompEat Pro dietary analysis software for macronutrient content (energy, protein, fat, saturates, total carbohydrate, starch, total sugars and sodium).

The results of the nutritional analysis were compared with the Dietary Reference Values (DRV) for the UK population.

These values provide reference intakes for a day – for what it has been assumed that lunch, as one of three meals a day should provide around one third of each of the nutrient requirements.