Development and Pilot Testing of a Novel Methodology to Examine the Food, Waste, and Packaging in Australian Schoolchildren’s Lunchboxes

Most children in Australia bring a packed lunch from home for consumption at school, yet few studies have explored the environmental outcomes of lunchbox contents. This study presents a novel audit methodology that combines food photography with a custom-designed survey developed in REDCap, supported by a detailed coding guide, to assess lunchbox contents, including food, estimated waste, and packaging types. To pilot test the audit tool, two school sites in high socioeconomic regions in South Australia participated. Lunchbox photographs were captured at two time points on a single day (before and after consumption) by the student researcher at the preschool and by a class teacher at the primary school. Independent coding was completed by two researchers, with inter-coder reliability assessed. Among the 40 lunchboxes sampled, the average contents included one vegetable, one to two fruits, one to three grain or cereal items, one dairy product, and one to two snack items. Intraclass correlation coefficient estimates indicated excellent agreement between coders. Food photography on-site, combined with subsequent coding off-site, offers a practical and objective method for assessing food, waste, and packaging in school lunchboxes, while placing minimal burden on participants. Lunchboxes are essential to the nutrition of school-aged children and have sustainability implications. This dual-focus methodology lays the groundwork for future research with larger sample sizes, aiming to inform the development of interventions that improve both the quality of foods in lunchboxes and their environmental impact.