CHICAGO—The NPD Group’s “Lunchtime Mealscape” report, which explores the drivers of lunchtime food and beverage choices, found that approximately 64 percent of lunches are school provided, 28 percent are carried from home, and 8 percent are obtained from other sources.
The top school-prepared foods and beverages consumed by kids, aged 6 to 12, are milk, sandwiches (including burgers and hot dogs), fruit and fruit salad, pizza, chicken, French fries, tap water and cookies. The top foods and beverages chosen by students at secondary school cafeterias are milk, sandwiches, bottled water, pizza, fruit, burgers and vegetables—only milk and sandwiches were included in more meals this past year, while incidence of bottled water and pizza dropped.
