Quality of food eaten in English primary schools: school dinners vs packed lunches

Objective: To compare the food and nutrient intakes of primary school children eating school dinners and packed lunches. Subjects: Six-hundred and twenty-one 7-year-old children participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in South West England. Methods: Diet was assessed by 3-day unweighed food record. Results: The composition of both types of school meals compared unfavourably with dietary guidelines. Intakes of energy, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), calcium, iron, folate, retinol equivalents, zinc, copper, magnesium, iodine and riboflavin were too low, and intakes of total and saturated fat were too high. However, children who ate school dinners had higher lunchtime intakes of protein, starch, NSP and most vitamins and minerals and lower intakes of sugar (14.2 and 20.9% of energy in school dinners and packed lunches, respectively, P