Parental Views on School Lunches: Insights into Childhood Obesity

The obesity epidemic constitutes a large and growing share of public health spending. This paper investigates parental views on providing healthy food choices in school lunches in an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of the parents’ role in addressing childhood overweight. I created a survey that was circulated at an elementary school in Victoria, B.C. The results are discussed using a standard microeconomic framework in which parental choices of their children’s lunches depend on their views (“utility”) as well as the restrictions they face. My results suggest that parents perceive price not to be a major factor in the decision to include fruits or vegetables in their child(ren)’s school lunch. The reason provided most frequently by parents for not including fruits or vegetables every day is the expectation that their child(ren) would refuse to eat them, or have too little time at school to eat them. Some parents also mention preparation time as a reason for not including fruits and vegetables.