Votes in for healthiest lunchboxes

May 22, 2007

Healthy bread wraps are winners in kids' lunch boxes, while chocolate spread sandwiches and chips are losers, according to a recent poll by The Parents Jury.

The Parents Jury is a web-based forum, supported by The Cancer Council and Diabetes Australia, for parents to voice their views and improve children's food and physical activity environments.

In their recent Lunchbox Winners and Losers poll, hundreds of parents offered ideas for healthy school lunches.

Salad wraps using pita, oat or corn bread, fruit salad, wholemeal sandwiches, frozen fruit and nuts ranked highly while chocolate spread sandwiches, fruit bars, soft drinks, muesli bars and chips were poorly rated.

Coordinator of The Parents Jury, Justine Hodge, said the organisation started in 2004 with 12 parents and has grown to a membership of 2,700.

It focuses on food marketing issues, like junk food advertisements targeted at children, as well as supporting parents in making the right food choices for their child.

"Childhood obesity is a phenomenal problem and one that is not going away," Ms Hodge said.

She said parents need to present their children with healthy food choices at home as well as at school.

"Kids spend a lot of time at school and (they need) good food for energy and brain function."

Foods like bread wraps and fruit are excellent school lunch choices because they can be varied, while soft drinks and chips rate poorly because they are high in fat, sugar and nutrient poor, she said.

Ms Hodge said the key to ensuring children make the right food choices is to keep healthy food in the house, present it in an interesting way and set a good example.

"Don't make food a battleground," she said.

AAP

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Mannatech, based in Coppell, Texas, is a wellness solutions provider that sells more than 24 proprietary and scientifically validated glyconutritional supplements and products for adults and children that address health and wellness issues, weight management and skin care products, through a global network-marketing system throughout the United States and the international markets of Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Denmark. For additional information about Mannatech, please visit its corporate Web site: www.mannatech.com