SCHOOL LUNCHES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23811, 18 May 1939, Page 8

SCHOOL LUNCHES

APATHY OF PARENTS LITTLE DIETETIC KNOWLEDGE (Special to Daily Times) AUCKLAND, May 17. With the idea of educating parents to provide more (suitable lunches for their children at school. Mr W. H. Paul, secretary of the Waikato Winter Show Association, has devised a special grease-proof paper lunch bag and has donated 50.000 bags to schools. Prior to the isue of the bags, arrangements were made with the headmasters of four large schools for a detailed survey of the children’s lunches by a qualified medical officer. Tendering his report, the doctor expressed the opinion that, although there were some excellent lunches, the majority were very disappointing, and showed either apathy or lack of elementary dietetic knowledge on the part of the parents. Of the 1005 children having their lunches at school. 97 bought the meal. The following figures were submitted' regarding the prepared lunches inspected:—Number with wholemeal or brown bread. 298: with white bread. 707; with jam sandwiches only. 250; with more than-one cake, 325; with lunches wrapped in newspaper or brown paper. 165: children who took fruit. 651. “There was very little variety in the Individual lunches, tomato sandwiches being most common," stated the report. “In many instances, these sandwiches were a soggy mess as tomato sandwiches often are if they are kept for some time. Only an occasional child had plain bread and butter and a whole tomato. Undesirable fillings used in the sandwiches were mustard, pickle, tomato relish and sugar. Some of the children had wholemeal and some coloured brown bread, but about 70 per cent, had whit;: bread. “ I was sorry to find peanut butter, lettuce and cress, ece. cheese, carrot, or raisin sandv iches were the exception rather than the rule.” continued the doctor in his report. "In addition. 23 cent, of the children had lunches consisting of jam sanwiches and 32 per cent, had more than one cake, indicating an excess of carbohydrate In the lunches. Several children had three or four pastries, and one boy had eight cakes. Mixed biscuits were popular. One child had 11 biscuits in her lunch, and another child’s lunch consisted of a bag of animal biscuits and cake only."