Two studies suggest that school meals are more nutritious than meals packed at home, says the New York Times blog Well. The studies, conducted in urbanized Houston and in rural Virginia found the school food to be lower in fat and sugar than the brown-bag lunches from home. An additional study “found no increase in waste and a significantly greater selection and consumption of vegetables and fruits from the improved menus,” said the Times. Critics say the new meals are not popular with students and cost more for schools to prepare. Experts said one solution for home-packed meals is for parents to learn more about healthy lunches, take their children to the grocery store so they can select fruits and vegetables to try, and to have the children help prepare their meals.
Meanwhile, the Upshot column of the New York Times presented a series of photos to show “What 2,000 calories looks like.” Some chain restaurants have introduced smaller and lower-calorie portions, it said, but some “add dishes so rich that a single meal often contains a full day’s worth of calories” if the gauge is 2,000 calories, roughly equal to a day’s food for an adult. Examples ranged from a steakhouse where a martini and a rib-eye steak hit 2,000 calories, lower-priced restaurants where a sandwich, chips, cookie and juice hit the daily total or fast-food outlets where a cheeseburger, fries and a shake will do the job.