Teens who bring a packed lunch to school eat less fast food and have healthier dietary habits, according to a new article in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

The article, co-authored by Center Research Scientist Susan H. Babey, uses data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey to measure dietary behaviors against the number of days children bring their lunches from home rather than buying them in or near their school.

The findings: Adolescents who typically brought their lunch from home five days per week ate fast food on fewer occasions; consumed fewer servings of soda, fried potatoes and high-sugar foods; and ate more fruit and vegetables compared with adolescents who never brought their lunch to school.  Specifically, in a typical school week, a student who did not bring a lunch from home:

• Ate fast food 1.75 more times
• Consumed 1.75 more sodas
• Consumed 0.50 more servings of fried potatoes
• Had 1.25 more servings of high-sugar foods
• Ate 4.75 fewer servings of fruit and vegetables per week…

… compared with a student who brought his or her lunch every day.

The findings suggest that “adolescents who bring lunch to school from home have more positive dietary behaviors than do adolescents who get their lunches from other sources,” said the study’s authors. 

Although California imposed more rigorous nutrition standards for food sold on school campuses in 2007, the authors of the article note that the data used for the study is a representative sample of a diverse population.  As such, it has significance in states that may not have as strict standards for school lunch programs.

For those whose families cannot provide a packed lunch, the authors said that improving the nutritional quality of foods offered from other sources, such as the National School Lunch Program and "competitive foods" (vending machine foods, school stores, etc.), could help improve adolescent dietary behaviors.

Read the journal article: School Lunch Source and Adolescent Dietary Behavior (Preventing Chronic Disease)