In 2010, a study was done at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor where 1,076
middle school students filled out questionnaires asking what they ate, how much physical activity they
got, and the number of hours they watched TV, played video games, and/or spent on the computer
each day.
The students were divided into three groups, depending on whether they said they "always," "almost always," or "sometimes" ate school lunches, "always," "almost always," or "sometimes" brought their lunch from home.
School Lunch (%) vs. Lunch From Home (%)
- More likely to be overweight or obese (38.2% vs. 24.7%)
- More likely to eat two or more servings of fatty meats like fried chicken or hot dogs daily (6.2% vs. 1.6%)
- More likely to have two or more sugary drinks a day (19% vs. 6.8%)
- Less likely to eat at least two servings of fruits a day (32.6% vs. 49.4%)
- Less likely to eat at least two servings of vegetables a day (39.9% vs. 50.3%)
- Kids who bought school lunch had higher levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol
Also, the school-lunch kids were less likely to participate in active sports like basketball, moderate
exercise like walking, or team sports than the kids who brought their lunch from home. School-lunch
eaters spent more time watching TV, playing video games, and using computers outside of school.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
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It is vital that efforts are put forth to provide healthier choices on school lunch menus, as well as incorporating better education and involvement to teach kids to make healthy choices, in relation to
not only food but exercise too.
The middle school age is a great age to target these goals. Middle schoolers are at age where
independence starts coming into play. The choices these kids make will shape their eating and
exercise habits as they get older.
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