Acceptability, Helpfulness, and Utility of the Healthy Lunch Box Booklet (HLBB) for Parents and School-Age Children

Abstract

Purpose: School lunches are of poor nutritional quality in Canada. Parents play an important role in the preparation of school lunches for young children. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability and helpfulness of the Healthy Lunch Box Booklet (HLBB) to support parents in packing healthy school lunches for their children. Methods: The HLBB was distributed at four schools in London, Ontario to students in full-day Kindergarten to Grade three. Parents were asked to complete an online survey from April to November 2019. Results: Parents (n = 58) reported the HLBB to be helpful (96.3%) and found the sections on new school lunch and snack ideas and nutritional information (e.g., label reading) particularly useful. Some parents also stated that the HLBB created opportunities to interact with their children regarding school lunch preparation. In terms of perceived impacts, parents reported increased confidence (68.6%) and learning something new (79.6%) about school lunch preparation and felt that their children’s diet was impacted accordingly. Conclusions: The HLBB was found to be an acceptable and useful nutrition resource that supports parents in packing healthy school lunches for their children and therefore warrants further study.