Looks like parents, need to step up their packed lunch game. According to a new study by Virginia Tech, pdf here, school lunches may be healthier, than lunches brought from home. The study observed a total of 469 lunches, with 45 percent of them being brought from home.
Children who brought lunch from home, had a bigger increase in their caloric intake, and they took in way more saturated fat than school lunches. Although packed lunches also had a bigger percentage of Vitamin C and Iron compared to the school lunches. School lunches however contained more Protein, Calcium, Vitamin A, and Sodium.
The study also showed that children who consumed packed lunches were more likely to have fruit and less likely to have vegetables. But they did not consume 32% of the fruit and 35% of vegetables, while the children who ate a school lunch only wasted 11% and 35% of vegetables.