How school lunches have transformed over the years

A third of parents eat their kids’ lunchbox rejects for dinner, according to a recent poll, commissioned by NatureSweet and conducted by Talker Research. The survey of 2,000 parents with school-aged children took an in-depth look at the American child’s palate, nutrition and how parents get creative to keep their kids fed. According to parents, although more than one in five (17%) said their child’s lunch is much more gourmet than they had as a kid, parents estimate that 21% of their child’s lunch comes home uneaten at the end of the day, on average. And when they're not eating the leftovers themselves (29%), parents said they’ll offer leftover lunch as an afterschool snack (25%) or put it back in the fridge or pantry (22%). Although 41% admit throwing leftovers away.