Home-Packed School Lunches Tend To Be A Lot Less Healthful -- Study

Researchers in Virginia who analyzed the nutritional value of more than 750 school meals with more than 560 packed meals given to pre-K and kindergarten students in three schools over five days found that school lunches were generally more healthful for kids. School lunches were lower in fat and higher in protein, though they did tend to contain more sodium. Packed lunches were less likely to have fruits, vegetables, sugar-free juice and milk, and had more snacks such as chips and crackers. "There were some really healthy packed lunches,” one researcher said. “But overall, they were pretty unhealthy."