Lunch Blog Review: Battle of the Bentos

The reason I haven't gotten around to posting lately is that I've become consumed by my thesis. I am actually writing this post in between stuffing consent forms into 1500 or so envelopes that need to get mailed tomorrow.

My thesis research is going to be a comparison of the nutrient content of school-bought lunches and lunches brought from home by high school students. Unfortunately, any time you study minors, you need parental consent... hence the endless envelope-stuffing. At any rate, because of this project, I have been thinking a lot about what kids eat for lunch.

There are a number of blogs out there started by moms who chronicle the meticulously prepared, visually appealing, and sometimes nutritious lunches they send their children to school with every day. While many of these bloggers are quite concerned with ensuring that the lunches they make are healthful, not all of them are quite so virtuous. So, I thought I'd critique a couple of them here today.

Don't try this at home: What's for lunch at our house

Grade: C

This mom makes a good effort, but these lunches are far from optimal. Sure, there's always a fruit and/or vegetable, but they're the same ones over and over and there are usually much less of them than there are of other less-healthful things. The lunches "at our house" are consistently high in refined carbohydrates and saturated fat, with nary a healthy fat or whole grain in sight.

For example, this lunch contained a mini quiche (so, saturated fat and a little protein), goldfish pretzels (refined carbs), panda cookies (more refined carbs and sugar), grapes (looks like there are about 6 of them, cut in half) and a fruit jelly (more sugar). No healthy fats, no whole grains, no vegetables, and just a little bit of fruit.

And the other lunches look pretty similar. The only fruits that show up are cantaloupe and grapes (small portions usually), and the only vegetable I've seen is baby carrots (it looks like maybe 2 or 3 sticks per lunch). Meanwhile, items like mini pigs in a blanket, sausage and cheese kebabs, goldfish crackers (not the whole grain kind from what I can tell), cookies, bagels with cream cheese, and pasta salad are regularly included.

Golden Nugget: Lunch Nugget
Grade: A+

Now this lady knows what she's doing. This lunch (like many others on her blog) contains 2 different types of fruit AND two different types of vegetables. Fruits and vegetables make up the majority of this lunch. There is a treat (M&Ms), but just a small amount. The bunny is a cheese sandwich made with reduced-fat cheese and whole grain bread. Perfect!

This blogger also manages to fit in many different fruits and vegetables over the course of the week. The recipient of these beautifully prepared lunches, or "Nugget," as he is affectionately called, will reap many benefits from his mom's painstaking effforts. He is being exposed regularly to a variety of healthful foods, increasing the likelihood that he will grow up with a taste for foods that are good for him and not become a very picky eater who refuses to touch anything but chicken fingers and french fries.