Readings

Open the Box

The Atkins diet has failed to catch the imagination of the nation's schoolchildren. Nine out of 10 children's lunchboxes contain foods high in fat, salt or sugar, according to The Food Standards Agency.

In a survey of over 550 children from across the UK, it found children's packed lunches contained up to twice the recommended amount of sugar, half of their suggested daily salt intake, plus high levels of saturated fats. The most popular items in the children's lunchboxes were a white bread sandwich - found in 87% of packed lunches, followed by crisps (71%), a biscuit or chocolate bar (60%) and dairy items such as yoghurts or fromage frais, found in 48% of packed lunches. Fewer than half the children surveyed had a portion of fruit in their lunchbox. 80% of those who took a packed lunch to school tended to have similar things to eat every day.

The FSA found up to 40% of saturated fats the children were eating came from butter and other fat spreads, up to 25% from cheddar cheese, up to 19% from crisps and up to 14% from chocolate bars and biscuits. Salt tended to come from white bread, ham and crisps and the higher levels of sugar came mainly from fizzy drinks, ready-to-drink juice drinks and chocolate-covered bars and biscuits. And you wondered why they had problems concentrating!