A parent's educational attainment may inform a child's diet, according to a recent study.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia found that children of college-educated parents eat more vegetables and drink less sugar. A parent's educational attainment is an indicator of socioeconomic status.
"We can only speculate on the reasons for the disparities," Jennifer Black, co-author of the study, said in a statement. "Higher priced products, like vegetables, may not be the food that gets packed first for vulnerable families that need to make tough choices about school lunches."
For the study, Black and her colleagues surveyed nearly 1,000 students in Grades 5 to 8, asking them to report their daily food consumption at school, or while traveling to and from school.
Researchers found that Vancouver school children whose parents completed some post-secondary education were 85 percent more likely to eat vegetables during the school week than those with parents who completed high school or less. Children whose parents graduated from college or university were 67 percent less likely to consume sugary drinks, like soda pop.
However, all kids are falling short when it comes to eating healthier at school.
"While there are still barriers that exist for low-income children, families from across the socioeconomic spectrum are struggling to get their kids to eat healthy food at school," Black said. "Our findings challenge this common notion that only low-income families feed their kids junk food because it appears wealthy families are not always making healthier choices either."
Researchers said the findings show that the majority of children, regardless of socioeconomic status, do not consume enough low-fat milk or whole grains on school days, opting instead for packaged snack foods like potato chips or fast-food style items, like French fries, high in sodium and saturated fat.
The findings were published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.
