September 2011 A survey of a nationally representative cross-section of 1,000 parents of school age children to understand more fully why parents choose school lunches or packed lunches for their children.
The Trust has undertaken a survey of 1,000 parents of school children in England to find out why they choose packed lunches rather than school lunches for their children, what financial factors drive their choices, and what they provide in a packed lunch.
Parents opt for school meals because they want their child to have a hot meal at lunchtime, to be able to sit with their friends, and because they know the child likes and will eat the food on offer. Parents provide packed lunches because they know their child will eat what is provided, but also because packed lunches are seen to be cheaper and school meals too expensive.
The balance of what parents said they provided in packed lunches was less healthy than what is likely to be on offer at school. This means that their perception of value for money concerning school food was not founded on a good understanding of what is healthy. Packed lunches were likely to be more repetitive and less varied than school lunches; they were dominated by sandwiches, wraps or panini lacking in vegetables; over half included sweets, confectionery and savoury snacks; and they contained on average only half the fruit and vegetables being provided by schools.
Almost half of parents were in favour of free school meals for all children, even if their own children were not in receipt of free school meals. And almost three-fifths of parents said they would be willing for their child to try school meals if they were offered at reduced prices.
