Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 14 (3): 150-154, 2015 ISSN 1680-5194 © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2015 Corresponding Author: Ghulam Mueen-ud-Din, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan 150 Nutritional Status of School Going Children in Relation to Their Dietary Intake at Mid-Morning Farah Naz Akbar , Asma Lodhi , Shahid Mahmood , Ghulam Mueen-ud-Din and Mian Anjum Murtaza 1 2 1 1 1 Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan 1 Institute of Rural Home Economics, NIFSAT, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan 2 Abstract: Present study was conducted to evaluate the quality of lunch box contents, BMI and eating behavior of school children. An informed consent was taken from parents after dissemination of study and then 150 students of both genders aged 6-11 years were randomly selected from a school, their height (m ) and 2 weight (kg) was measured to calculate BMI (kg/m ). Lunch boxes were examined for their contents, 60 lunch 2 boxes contained simple chips (SP), french fried chips (CF), packed chips (CP), chopri roti (R), allo wala paratha (PA), simple paratha (PS), boiled egg (EB), fry egg (EF) and omelet (EO) in common. Lunch boxes were analyzed for moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat and nitrogen free extract (NFE). Result showed at the age of 11 years 33.3% children were overweight, 11.10% children were obese and only 44.40% normal weight. At the age of 10 years 3.7% children were overweight as well as obese and only 44.40% normal weight. At the age of 9 years 25% children were overweight and 54% children were normal weight. At the age of 8 years 4% children were overweight and 48% children were normal weight. While at the age of 6 years and 7 years no one child was overweight and nor was child obese. Dietary intake at mid- morning was also observed in which at the age of 11 years 78% children were using money for buying high fat lunch meal and 22% children took lunch box with them. At the age of 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6 years, respectively 50, 52, 18, 05 and 0% children were using money for buying high fat lunch meal and 27, 40, 70, 76 and 81% children took lunch boxes with them while 23, 8, 12, 19 and 19% children had no lunch as well money. Lunch boxes contents (%) contained moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat and nitrogen free extract (NFE) 34.43±0.058, 0.631±0.020, 11.78±0.500, 0.34±0.10, 6.9±500 and 44.57±0.410, respectively. BMI of school going children were increased with age due to high consumption of fatty and vendor foods and lunch box avoiding behavior. Key words: BMI, school going children, vendor foods, lunch box INTRODUCTION Eating breakfast is the very important meal of the day especially for school going children studies shows that children who eat breakfast perform better in classroom and on the playground. A nourished breakfast improves the learning potential of children, allow them to learn effectively. Good health and nutrition is the basic need to achieved child’s full educational potential because good nutrition effect on educational development and good learning ability of children. Breakfast which is rich in carbohydrate provides glucose as fuel to the brain. A high carbohydrate cereal breakfast can positively influence one’s morning mood (Widenhorn et al., 2008). Scientific research supports this, demonstrating that breakfast eaters are less stressed than those who skip it. Research has also shown that eating high-fiber breakfast cereals can help combat fatigue and improve mood. In a series of memory and recall tests, it was found that eating breakfast significantly improved performance at information retention tasks. Recollection speed was also enhanced. It is conversely important for children to go with a health breakfast. Many children skip breakfast because they do not want eat homemade meal or have don’t have time to eat (Utter et al., 2007). Breakfast skipping remains a considerable problem in children (Hoyland et al., 2012). Attempting to lose weight and lack of time in the morning is one of the most common reasons in skipping breakfast. However, evidence suggests that skipping breakfast results in the opposite-making it harder to lose weight and keep it off. Eating breakfast helps to balance food intake throughout the day, making overeating less likely. Research also shows that both children and adults who eat breakfast, particularly a cereal one, are less likely to be overweight than their counterparts who skip this meal (Cho, 2003). This is reflected in the observation that breakfast skippers tend to have lower nutrient intakes compared to habitual breakfast consumers (Matthys et al., 2007; Williams, 2007). The school lunch box has an important influence on health of child. Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), USA had evaluates the meals which are served in the National School Lunch Program. Healthful lunch box includes rich amount of vegetable,