Nearly a third of parents clear leftovers from children’s lunch boxes for dinner: survey

A third of parents eat their children’s packed lunches for dinner, according to a recent survey.

The survey of 2,000 parents with school-age children took an in-depth look at the American child’s palate, food and how parents get creative to keep their kids fed.

According to parents, although more than one in five (17%) said their child’s lunch is much tastier than it was as a child, parents estimate that 21% of their child’s lunch comes home uneaten of the day, on average. .

And when they don’t eat the leftovers themselves (29%), parents said they’ll offer the leftover lunch as an after-school snack (25%) or put it back in the fridge or pantry (22%). Although 41% accept throwing away waste.

Commissioned by NatureSweet and conducted by Talker Research, the survey took a close look at how school lunches have changed over the years.

There has been quite a bit of evolution according to parents with 43% saying today’s school lunches are healthier than theirs, while over a quarter (28%) said there is more variety.

Although the combination of the classic sandwich (61%), chips (56%) and juice (52%) is the most popular lunch for children these days.

When asked about their children’s least favorite lunch foods, parents ranked peas (40%) and green beans (36%), along with tuna salad (36%) and boiled eggs (32%).

But when it comes to kids’ food preferences, parents cited fast foods (50%), fresh foods (38%), foods kids can pack themselves (31%) and non-messy foods (30%) as factors bigger ones for that. the children as in their lunch.

And parents prioritize nutrition (54%), taste (45%) and cost (33%) more when buying food for their children.

But when it comes to school time, the majority of respondents (60%) feel guilty about feeding their children lighter, unhealthy snacks rather than whole foods, due to being busy (20%) and choosing (21%).

And the situation is multi-layered as many labeled themselves as “stressed” (30%) and “struggling” (21%) parents.

So more than a few (79%) have gone to dramatic lengths to keep unhealthy foods from their children, such as avoiding them at the store (30%), hiding them (18%) and telling white lies ( 13%).

“As many parents know, it can be challenging to get your kids to eat what’s in their lunchbox, especially whole foods,” said Dr. Martin Ruebelt, Chief Scientific Officer at NatureSweet. “With this study, we wanted to shed light on how parents go above and beyond to give their children healthy, nutritious meals and the ways they get creative to keep their children fed good.

According to the results, the trick is in the presentation: One in three (31%) found they buy food and snacks with fun packaging that they know will excite their child. And a quarter (24%) rely on cute lunch containers and boxes.

More than half (54%) even said their child is more likely to eat food if its packaging features their favorite TV show character.

But appearances aside, parents said they are working to educate their children about health by actively teaching them about healthy foods and diet (42%), modeling healthy eating (34%) and prioritized healthy habits in the family schedule (31%).

“Incorporating whole foods and products into your family’s diet and busy lifestyles doesn’t take as much time as it used to,” adds Dr. Ruebelt. “There are so many healthy food options on the market that include whole foods such as produce that are delicious, convenient and most importantly, kid-approved.”

Survey methodology:

This random double-choice survey of 2,000 parents of children aged 5-17 was commissioned by NatureSweet between June 4 and June 11, 2024. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).