Packed lunches don't necessarily offer better nutrition for kids

For parents facing the back-to-school lunch crunch, it's hard to decide what to buy. And food manufacturers aren't making it any easier, according to research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

"We place a lot of focus on junk food and its contribution to childhood obesity," said Dr. Charlene Elliott of Carleton University in Ottawa. "But we know much less about how food outside the category of "junk" is targeted to children." This "fun food" is conveyed through food packaging, colour, graphics or language - and even the shapes and colors of the foods themselves.

"It's ironic," she said. "We tell adults not to use food primarily as fun, as sport, as entertainment. Yet, that's the very message we're sending to children."

Dr. Elliott went through a local supermarket and found 366 products that fell into the category of fun food, including glow-in-the-dark yogurt tubes, cereal that turns the milk blue, and instant oatmeal that hatches dinosaur eggs when boiling water is added - food that may have a huge "yuck" factor for adults, but is irresistible to children.

It would be much easier if you could just steer clear of all fun foods, no matter how much your children plead. But not all fun food is necessarily bad for you.

"The way marketers present products as kids' products is interesting, because the products span the spectrum from completely healthy to decidedly unhealthy," said Dr. Elliott.

Take fruit strips, a common feature of many packed lunches. Some are 100% fruit, while others are full of sugar - and without carefully reading labels, it's hard to know the difference.

"Lots of parents who are vigilant about not buying junk food will unthinkingly go down the aisle and grab sugar-laden fruit snacks," said Elliott.

When it comes to finding healthy ingredients for school lunches, she said, it's clear that parents can't let down their guard.