Report: States that serve YOUR kids revealed the least healthy school lunches – after junk food like Lunchables was linked to a cancer spike in children

Junk food is a staple of America’s school cafeterias, but a new map has revealed which states serve the least nutritious lunches.

Louisiana has the worst in the country, based on several factors, including how many fruits and vegetables students consume from kindergarten through high school.

The state is followed by Idaho, where the most popular lunch is a pizza cheeseburger, and Wyoming, where students prefer chicken nuggets.

On the other hand, Massachusetts has the healthiest lunches, thanks in part to schools that incorporate fresh, local foods into their meals.

This is followed by Maine taking the second healthiest spot, followed by Hawaii, according to a report from ProCare Therapy, a school health company.

The report comes as America tries to overhaul its school lunches, as many of the meals offered to students are considered unhealthy and full of junk ingredients, some of which have been linked to cancer.

ProCare determined its rankings based on factors such as student consumption of fruits, vegetables and sugary drinks, the number of National School Lunch Program lunches served per 10,000 children, and the state’s participation in the Farm to School program, in which schools purchase and use locally sourced fresh ingredients .

The National School Lunch Program is a federally supported meal program that provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children.

ProCare used data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Farm to School (F2S) census and the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), and the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH).

These factors were combined to create a school lunch index score based on 100 possible points, with higher scores representing healthier school lunches.

The findings showed that Hawaii has the highest participation in the Farm to School program, with 11 percent of the state’s school district participating in a program.

Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico and Alaska were the bottom five states, each scoring less than 42 points.

Louisiana’s lack of participation in the Farm to School program and lower percentage of NSLP meals served contributed to the poor scores.

Schoolchildren in Louisiana also received fewer fruits and vegetables than students in other states.

Poor lunch nutrition could be a contributing factor to Louisiana’s high childhood obesity rate. According to figures, the state has the third-highest obesity rate among children ages 10 to 17 in the U.S. Statistical data from 2021.

In addition to nutrition, the analysis also found the most popular school lunch item in each state using Google search data.

For Massachusetts, considered the state with the healthiest school lunches, pizza was the most popular item. In Louisiana it was fried chicken.

The report comes as a campaign was launched to ban popular lunch product Lunchables from free school meals after watchdog group Consumer Reports found it contained high levels of sodium.

“Lunchables are not a healthy option for children and should not be on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports.

A cafeteria worker prepares Lunchables for lunch at a school in Pembroke, North Carolina

ProCare determined its ranking based on factors such as meals served in accordance with federal nutritional guidelines and the percentage of Farm to School participation in the program, a program through which schools purchase locally produced, farm-fresh food and put it on their menus.

He added: ‘The Lunchables and similar packed lunches we tested contain high levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time.

“The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure children in schools have healthier options.”

Lunchables developed two new versions of its kit last year specifically for school lunch programs in the US, but the new report shows that they contain even more salt than the Lunchables kits that customers can get at grocery stores.

The school cafeteria version of the Lunchables was found to contain between 460 and 740 milligrams per serving, which is “nearly a quarter to a half of a child’s daily recommended amount of sodium” — no more than 1,500 mg per day for four to eight hours. years old.

Consumer Reports found that the Turkey and Cheddar Lunchables variety contained 930 mg of sodium, while the store-bought version contained 740 mg.

Rising cancer rates in young people have also been linked to the increasing prevalence of ultra-processed foods.

An analysis of CDC data recently found that the number of cases of colorectal cancer in children ages 10 to 14 has increased by up to six times since 2000.

In 2020, only 0.6 children aged 10 to 14 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 0.1 per 100,000 in 1999 – an increase of 500 percent.