It sounds harmless - why not incentivise healthy eating with a little friendly competition? Well, for lots of reasons actually.
Teachers are feeling the pressure to "get" children to eat well, and parents are feeling increasingly stressed about packing an "appropriate" lunchbox. It seems like no one is having a good time!
In this blog post I’ll unpack the risks we overlook, who misses out, and what schools can do to improve childhood nutrition instead.
Whose choices are we actually judging?
A lunchbox is often packed by an adult for a child, but it's the child on the receiving end if their lunchbox contents don’t “pass” the requirements. I don't want any child to feel a sense of judgement, worry or embarrassment over the food packed by their grown up.
Scoring a child’s lunchbox contents is really just passing judgement on a parent's circumstances without knowing the full picture. They are really just a competition for parents to compete against each other, judged on who has the most time and money. No thanks.
And keep in mind, there are so many different reasons for a child to not have an "appropriate" lunchbox, including:
The risks we overlook
At first glance, a healthy lunchbox competition can seem harmless. But if we dig a little deeper we find plenty of unintended consequences.
Focussing on which foods are healthy or unhealthy (or everyday and sometimes) is an example of a reductionist approach to food. This kind of black and white framing leads children to interpret our messaging in a very binary way, and internalise the idea that their lunchbox is "good" or "bad".
When food takes on a moral value like this, children may develop feelings of shame and guilt, and a fear that "unhealthy/bad” food will cause them immediate harm. Many adults have a difficult relationship with food and/or their bodies as a result of this kind of framing.
This way of thinking about food is linked to increased risk of disordered eating patterns and contributes to anti-fat bias, weight stigma, and discrimination towards people in bigger bodies.
Kids don't need any more of that kind of messaging, especially from adults they trust.
This is particularly worrying in light of the growing rates of eating disorders - recent data shows roughly one third of Australian teenagers report some form of disordered eating and that the numbers are rising.
We owe it to our kids to do better.
How do parents and teachers feel about it?
Whenever I talk about lunchbox pressures I get hundreds of messages from parents. They tell me about the stress and anxiety they feel, the fear that their kids will be singled out for what's in the lunchbox, and a pressure to compensate with certain foods at home after school hours.
Should they over-pack just in case? Or under-pack so nothing gets left uneaten or misjudged? And underneath it all, are their choices, and therefore their parenting, being scored?
I also get messages from teachers too. A couple of years ago I asked them what they thought about food at school via a survey. Hundreds of teachers reported feeling uncomfortable about monitoring and judging children’s lunchbox contents.
Practices like this in the school environment can also create conflict between teachers with differing personal views on food and nutrition. Plus, do teachers really have the time to be monitoring and scoring lunchboxes on top of everything else?
I'm pleased that there have been some changes to school policies and procedures in recent years. Your advocacy efforts are working - let's keep it going together.
What could we do instead?
The most important thing we can do is trust parents to make decisions about what they send to school for their child to eat - they know their child best.
Here are some more ways for teachers to support children in the classroom when it comes to food:
The great news is you can probably achieve these by doing less, not more.
If you want to understand more about these recommendations and the evidence behind them, check out the School Mealtimes evidence summary.
Related offerings
Shame-free school lunches
Children shouldn’t feel that their worth is measured by what’s in their lunchbox, and behind every child is a family doing their best with what they have.
Let's replace judgement and scoring systems with trust that parents can make appropriate food decisions for their children. Then kids can eat what they need and move on with their day.
Looking for more support?
If you are interested in learning more about supporting children’s relationships with food, my Teacher Masterclass Beyond Good and Bad Foods(opens in new tab) is a great place to start. Additionally, School Mealtimes(opens in new tab) is a free resource to help schools and educators create safe, empowering food environments.
To hear more about the troubles with using ‘absolute’ language around food and why I think healthy lunchbox competitions shouldn’t exist in schools, tune in to Episode 32 of my podcast, Mealtimes by Dr Kyla(opens in new tab).
Expert-led feeding guidance that grows with your child
One membership, three dedicated stages tailored to your child. Start where you need, switch when you want.
(4 - 15 months)
Starting solids
Introducing allergens
Finger food and puree recipes
(1 - 4 Years)
Fussy Eating
Toddler-tested snacks and meals
Confidence through the chaos
(5 - 12 years)
Weekly family menu
School lunchbox ideas
Navigating body conversations