What do middle school children bring in their bag lunches?
BACKGROUND
Limited documentation exists on nutritional characteristics of bag lunches, although about 30% of adolescents take them. This study describes: (a) the prevalence of different types of foods in bag lunches, (b) the number of kilocalories, percentage of kilocalories from fat, amount of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugar, and (c) the differences related to gender and grade.


METHODS
In 24 middle schools, observations were made on 1,381 bag lunches (about 58 per school) during one semester.


RESULTS
The most common bag lunch components were beverages and sandwiches. Fruits were more common than vegetables; non-chip snacks and chips were more common than cookies, candy, and cakes/pies. Bag lunches averaged 596.2 kcal (29.7% from fat), 20.8 g of total fat, 6.2 g of saturated fat, 32.6 mg of cholesterol, and 21.3 g of sugar. Boys' bag lunches had significantly more kilocalories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and percentage of energy from fat than girls' lunches. Significant grade differences were found only for total fat and cholesterol, with seventh graders bringing more than sixth graders.


CONCLUSIONS
More research on the nutritional quality of foods brought to school in bag lunches is important for gaining a better understanding about how to improve students' nutrition.
Conway
Terry L
TL
Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, California, 92123, USA. tconway@mail.sdsu.edu
Sallis
James F
JF
Pelletier
Robin L
RL
Powers
Holly S
HS
Marshall
Simon J
SJ
Zive
Michelle M
MM
Elder
John P
JP
D000293:Adolescent; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000367:Age Factors; D002140:California; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors
D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose