Parents ‘need lessons’ on packing healthy lunch boxes to beat obesity epidemic
PARENTS are being taught how to make healthy packed lunches to help beat an epidemic of child obesity.
Sessions are being run at dozens of schools as a study shows most midday offerings lack nutrition.
Many lunch boxes contain crisps, chocolate spread, jam and sausage rolls, and just one in five has veg or salad. Only about half contain fruit.
Most sandwiches were made from white sliced bread, which was low in fibre, a Leeds University study revealed.
It found that only 1.6 per cent met all eight healthy food standards, according to figures released at the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht.
Stephanie Slater, of School Food Matters, said the charity was advising parents of pupils at more than 100 schools.
Read more on obesity epidemic
She said workshops showed them what to include in their children’s lunch boxes.
She added: “The Leeds study shows that packed lunches rarely meet school food standards.”
Figures reveal that lockdown has fuelled child obesity across England.
A total of 14.4 per cent of four and five-year-olds were dangerously heavy last year, up from 9.9 per cent in 2019/20.
Most read in Health
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, called for national packed lunch nutrition standards otherwise food quality “might still be hit or miss”.
- SLIMMERS who go to dieting classes should get their children involved so families can shed weight together, says NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis.