How to Pack a Healthy School Lunch

School lunches are a convenient option for busy families, but this convenience may come at the cost of our children’s health. While it’s true that popular school meals like chicken pot pies and pizza provide sustenance and reduce undernutrition in children, it’s also often the case that school lunches — the meals that millions of children rely on throughout the school year — are loaded with hidden chemicals, endocrine-disruptors like bisphenol A (BPA), and ultra-processed ingredients.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are associated with at least 32 adverse health effects, from depression and anxiety to adverse sleep, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. These foods also contribute to childhood obesity, poor academic performance, and neurodevelopmental issues.

Undernutrition in children is a serious issue — there’s no question there — but so is the overconsumption of poor-quality foods. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at the potential dangers of school lunches and discuss how to make school lunches healthier and more nutritious for kids.

Not-so-nutritious facts about school lunches

Although school lunches are meant to reduce undernutrition in children and provide kids with the energy they need to learn, grow, and power through the school day, the unfortunate truth is these meals could be harming the health of our children in the long run. The school lunches that are meant to nourish kids could actually be contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic; impairing adolescent brain health; and exposing children to hormones, heavy metals, pesticides, and other possible carcinogens.

One reason for this is that school cafeterias are a major source of ultra-processed foods (e.g. corn dogs, hot dogs, chicken patties, and pepperoni pizza). These foods are low in nutrition and high in preservatives, added sugars, trans fats, salt, and other chemical additives — increasing the risk of chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.

Studies have also associated the consumption of ultra-processed foods in adolescence with poor cognitive performance and poor academic achievement. On the other hand, consuming lots of whole foods (such as fresh fruits and vegetables) seems to have a positive effect on academic performance.

Ultra-processed foods and added sugars in school lunches

While serving ultra-processed foods in schools isn’t necessarily encouraged, these foods aren’t explicitly prohibited. As long as lunches meet the USDA’s dietary specifications for calories, sodium, and saturated fat, schools can serve them to students.

School lunches must also contain five food components in order to be served to students: fruits or vegetables; fluid milk; and grains, meats, or meat alternatives. This means that schools can serve highly processed foods to students as long as lunches meet these basic requirements.

What’s more, the fruit requirement doesn’t necessarily apply to fresh fruits. Schools can offer 100 percent fruit juices and dried, canned, or frozen fruits with added sugars and syrups in place of fresh fruits such as whole or sliced apples and oranges. This is concerning for a few reasons:

The dried fruit mix commonly served in schools contains 23 grams of sugar per ¼ cup.

The mixed fruit cups commonly served in schools contain 14 grams of sugar per ½ cup.

Just one four-ounce carton of orange juice contains 14 grams of sugar (in comparison, one whole orange contains about eight grams of sugar per ½ cup, making the whole orange a better option).

So how much sugar is too much for children? For kids ages two to 18, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends consuming no more than 25 grams of sugar daily (about six teaspoons). The AHA also recommends consuming no more than eight ounces of sugary beverages weekly (e.g. sodas and juices). According to these recommendations, just one serving of dried fruit from school would practically throw kids over the daily limit!

If you’re interested in learning more about the nutritional content of the foods commonly served in schools, we encourage you to check out the USDA’s product information sheets.

Are school breakfasts nutritious?

The basic nutrition requirements mentioned above only apply to school lunches, not breakfasts and after-school snacks. Vegetables are not required as part of the School Breakfast Program (SBP). Schools can choose to offer vegetables as part of their breakfast options — either in place of or in addition to offering fruits — but they aren’t required to do so.

Instead of having your kids purchase breakfast after getting to school in the morning, we recommend preparing your own breakfasts at home. Some good options for kids include fruit smoothies, avocado toast, cottage cheese and fruit, and whole-grain toast with almond butter.

BPA and other toxins in school lunches

As if all this talk of ultra-processed foods and added sugars in school lunches wasn’t bad enough, school lunches are also a source of BPA — a hormone-disrupting chemical — and other environmental toxins such as glyphosate, heavy metals, and veterinary drugs.

A study of 43 school lunch samples tested by the nonprofit organization Moms Across America found that 93 percent of the school lunches tested contained glyphosate, 74 percent contained at least one harmful pesticide, and 100 percent of the samples contained unhealthy levels of heavy metals. Most of the lunches tested were also critically low in nutrients.

The same study found that nine school lunches sampled contained veterinary drugs. According to these results:

Sulfamethazine was found in a piece of meat from a hamburger.

Clopidol was found in a sample taken from barbecue boneless chicken wings.

Thiabendazole was present in a piece of turkey meat sampled.

Exposure to even small amounts of BPA, heavy metals, hormones, and other environmental toxins can be harmful to children — both in the short and long term. No school lunch is worth these risks!

How to pack a healthy school lunch

If school lunches offered under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) aren’t ideal, then what are some good lunches for school-aged kids? How can we be sure our children are getting the nutrients they need each day without all the added preservatives, chemicals, sugars, fats, and salt often found in school lunches, fast foods, and pre-packaged meals?

Even though it can be time-consuming for parents, a packed lunch from home is the most nutritious option for kids. This allows us to control exactly what goes into each meal, ensuring our children are consuming adequate amounts of fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, and proteins — without harming their physical or mental health.

A few examples of healthy school lunches for kids include the following:

Chicken breast or turkey sandwiches with veggies such as lettuce, tomato, sprouts, and avocado. Use mayo, hummus, mustard, pesto, or guacamole as a sandwich spread (you can learn more about our preferred condiments and snack foods in this blog post).

Tuna or egg salad sandwiches with lettuce and avocado. As a plant-based alternative, use mashed chickpeas, tempeh, or tofu.

Bean and veggie wraps. Simply mash a can of beans, layer on whichever veggies you have on hand, and roll into wraps.

Bean, rice, and veggie bowls. Top with salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese, and chopped romaine.

As for nutritious snacks and sides your kids will love, opt for apple slices with unsweetened peanut butter, red grapes with cheese, hard-boiled eggs with almonds, and veggie slices with hummus or guacamole. Gluten-free crackers with cheese, celery with almond butter, and cottage cheese with fresh fruit are some other good options to consider.

Back to school, back to you

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