The old saying "you are what you eat" is true for all of us, but especially so for children who need the vitamins, minerals and nutrients provided by what they eat to grow their bodies and minds. Since a good portion of what your child eats in a day is consumed at school, it’s important to make sure that what they’re getting is healthy and safe. These stats will show you that school lunches, whether made at home or in the cafeteria, aren’t always the best for your child, allowing you to give some serious thought on how to change them for the better and make sure your child is getting the best food possible.

1. Children who eat school lunch consume 40-120 calories more than those who don’t, increasing their chances of being overweight by 2-4%. Obesity among the young and old alike is rampant in our nation, and studies have shown that school lunches aren’t always helping when it comes to rectifiying this problem. In fact, the problem has become so bad that the government has declared it a national security issue, since many recruits to the armed forces are too overweight for duty. While there is a lot of room for improvement, parents can expect to see changes in the coming years.
2. Many studies have found that lunches from home are worse than lunches from school. Children who ate lunch at school got more nutrients in their meals than kids responsible for bringing their own lunches. The culprit? Too many salty, sweet and nutrient-poor snack foods make up lunches brought from home. If your child takes his or her own lunch, make sure it’s a healthy one.
3. School lunch foods are influenced by meat and dairy lobbyists rather than nuritional needs, with $179 million spent on cheese and another $170 million for beef. It’s unlikely that eating more cheeseburgers is going to help your child grow up strong and healthy, but the spending habits of the school lunch program would have you think otherwise. Rather than focus budgets on eating more veggies and fruits, lobbyists support their industries through government contracts that keep school lunches filled with ingredients that really should only be eaten in moderation.
4. Federal regulations prevent schools from serving soymilk or other non-dairy beverages. Unless your child can prove with a doctor’s note that he or she has an intolerance to dairy products, you can expect that there won’t be any other options at your child’s lunch. With many students, especially those who are African-American or Asian, not being able to consume dairy but who may not know they have a lactose intolerance problem or the money to fund extra visits to a doctor, this can become a major issue.
5. A mere 6-7% of subsidized meals meet all nutritional standards. For those students who must subsist on subsidized meals, nutrition can be a real issue. These meals very often don’t come anywhere close to meeting their nutritional needs, something people around the nation are calling discriminatory and are hoping to change. If your child gets subsidized meals, do what you can to educate your child on what and how they should be eating to stay healthy.
6. 42% of schools in a nationwide survey offered no fresh fruits or vegetables in their lunch programs. It might sound crazy, but getting fresh fruits and veggies into your child’s diet if they eat school lunches might be a coin toss. Just a little less than half of schools don’t offer students simple foods like apples, oranges and fresh vegetables as lunchroom choices, influencing food tastes and decisions that might affect how they eat when they get home and follow them throughout their lives.
7. The lower your income, the worse your child will fare nutritionally. Very often, those in low income families must rely on federeally subsized breakfasts and lunches to be able to feed their children. Studies have shown that these meals are often full of fats and sugars that do little to help children pay attention in class or contribute to their overall health.
8. Thousands of school cafeterias do not undergo health inspections. While food poisoning is not common, it can take a big toll on young children who get sick from salomonella and E. coli, in some cases even leading to death or serious disability. A 2009 article from USA Today revealed that your school cafeteria could pose a bigger danger than you think, with 26,500 of the nation’s cafeterias never undergoing health or sanitation inspections.
9. Some school lunch pizzas contain up to 25 different ingredients. If you’re trying to raise your kids with food that isn’t packed with preservatives and additives, cafeteria food may not always be the best option. A 2010 study found that school lunch pizza contained ingredients like azodicarbonamide — a food bleach that is also used as a plastic defoaming agent. You can guess that pizza isn’t the only dish served that contains these kind of bizarre and unnecessary additives, perhaps not because the schools aren’t trying to feed students well but because these kinds of preserved foods are much cheaper than their fresh counterparts.
10. Kids will eat healthier options when presented. Children have a bad reputation when it comes to having expansive palates, with many people thinking kids will always shy away from greens and fresh fruits when presented with them. Several studies of schools that have implemented fresh or oganic foods have shown that kids will eat healthy and know what healthy options are even when sugary, fatty alternatives are readily available.