Ruddy Pedro, 9, has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
recently at Kalihi Elementary School.
Photo by George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin

The study is part of a three-year project to develop a computerized menu-planning model to help the state's School Food Services Branch make nutritious, cost-effective foods that use local produce and that appeal to isle students, said PingSun Leung. He is a professor in the UH Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and co-principal investigator of the research.

The project, begun in July 1994, is using $99,000 provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The first objective in the study among public school kindergarteners through sixth-graders was to compare home lunches with USDA school lunch requirements. The study shows, for example, that half of the lunches children brought from home contained no fruits or vegetables, and two out of three offered no dairy products.

"It's very important for people to think about what they're packing in their children's lunch," said Lynne Quinn, Ph.D., co-principal investigator and lead researcher for the survey.

"Some lunches are good, but there are a number of lunches where the children aren't getting (certain foods), particularly fruits and vegetables and dairy products. And that's a concern for the long-term health of those children."

One in five Hawaii public school students brings home lunch - about 38,000 out of a total of 188,000 youngsters - according to Gene Kaneshiro, director of the School Food Services Branch of the state Department of Education.

Leung and Quinn surveyed 323 of these youngsters in 14 public schools on all major islands.

"In general, lunches brought from home by children attending public school in Hawaii did not meet the meal pattern requirements in the USDA National School Lunch Program for dairy foods, bread and bread alternate, or fruits and vegetables," said Quinn, who teaches food service courses in the UH School of Travel Industry Management.

She presented these findings recently at the Institute for Food Technology in New Orleans:

More than half - about 55 percent - of the surveyed students carry no fruits or vegetables in their home lunches.

Two-thirds - about 65 percent - of those surveyed bring no dairy products for lunch.

One in four youngsters carries two or more servings of chips, crackers, cookies, cake or candy.

Four percent of the surveyed youngsters had no main dish except a large bag of chips or candy.

One in four surveyed students dines on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - followed by one in six on Spam musubi or other rice/meat variation; one in 10 on ham or ham-and-cheese sandwiches; and one in 11 on bologna or bologna-and-cheese sandwiches. Results from a related survey on school lunch preferences show that:

Favorite meal categories, in order of preference, are dessert, main dish and fruits.

Chocolate milk is most students' No. 1 choice.

Sandwiches and pizza are main dish favorites.

Chicken is the preferred meat.

White bread, cinnamon rolls, french fries and cornbread are more popular than rice.

Carrot sticks are the only raw vegetable with at least 50 percent approval.

The project ends next June.