What's for Lunch? Investigating the Experiences, Perceptions, and Habits of Parents and School Lunches: A Scoping Review.

J Sch Health

Schulich School of Education, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, North Bay, Ontario P1B 8L7, Canada.

Published: October 2020

Background: Research indicates home-packed school lunches are lower in nutritional value compared with school-provided meals. Due to the lack of a school lunch program, most of what Canadian children consume during the school day is determined by parents and caregivers through packed lunches. Despite this, little research has focused on the school lunch packing habits and attitudes of parents. The purpose of this scoping review was to improve understanding of parental perceptions, experiences, and habits with respect to home-packed school lunches.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed and gray literature. We reviewed only studies published from January 2000 to January 2019 with a focus on parents' lunch packing habits for their school-aged children.

Results: The review included 7 studies, with articles from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The studies identified 6 themes influencing parental decisions regarding what to pack in their child's lunch-school environment, food as fuel, convenience, child's influence, cost, and the lunch experience.

Conclusions: The decisions that influence what is packed in a school lunch are complex and indicate the need for support. Parents, schools, districts, and government policymakers need to work collaboratively to improve the healthiness of home-packed school lunches.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/josh.12944DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

school lunches
12
scoping review
12
home-packed school
12
school lunch
12
school
8
lunch packing
8
packing habits
8
lunch
5
what's lunch?
4
lunch? investigating
4

Similar Publications

Prolonged sitting can negatively impact postprandial glucose levels and cognitive function. While short bouts of stair climbing are thought to mitigate these risks, the findings remain inconclusive. The present study aimed to explore the effects of stair climbing bouts on postprandial glucose and cognitive functions during prolonged sitting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Meeting protein intake recommendations is relevant for maintaining muscle mass. This study aimed to describe protein intake and its association with meal patterns and dietary patterns.

Methods: An in-house designed, web-based 4-day record was used in the national dietary survey (in 2010/2011).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The association between social media usage and the risk of depressive symptoms has attracted increasing attention. WeChat is a popular social media software in China. The impact of using WeChat and posting WeChat moments on the risk of developing depressive symptoms among community-based middle-aged and older adults in China is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Healthy Kai (Food) Checker Web-Based Tool to Support Healthy Food Policy Implementation: Development and Usability Study.

JMIR Form Res

January 2025

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Background: Public health programs and policies can positively influence food environments. In 2016, a voluntary National Healthy Food and Drink Policy was released in New Zealand to improve the healthiness of food and drinks for hospital staff and visitors. However, no resources were developed to support policy implementation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/objectives: Insomnia is a significant public health problem affecting a large population. Although previous research has explored the relationship between specific nutrients and insomnia, comprehensive analyses of daily eating patterns of macro- and micronutrients remain limited. Since nocturnal hypertension is related to sodium/potassium intake and sleep disturbances, the present cross-sectional study hypothesized that daily eating patterns of potassium and sodium would be associated with Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) scores.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!