Parents' perspectives on their children's school lunches in primary schools

School lunches play an important role in children's dietary intake, and in primary schools in the UK, children and/or parents (on children's behalf) select school lunches from several options on a menu. Schools that utilise an online pre-order system enable pupils and/or parents to choose school lunches via a website or mobile application. This study aimed to understand parents' perspectives and perceptions of their children's school lunches and online pre-ordering. Semi-structured focus group and individual interviews were conducted with parents of children at primary school. Discussions were recorded and transcribed before reflexive thematic analysis was conducted. Four core themes were identified: choosing school meals, children's food choice parameters, impressions of school lunch, and packed lunches vs. school lunches. When deciding between a school lunch or a packed lunch, key considerations for parents were cost, children's food preferences and convenience. Choosing the specific school meal was primarily a child-led activity, where food choice parameters included taste, texture, peer influence, and familiarity. Parents received sparse feedback from their children about school lunches, and were keen to know more about their children's school meals and the school food environment. Opportunities to share detailed information on meals and children's choices should be explored; this could enhance home-school partnership and help to engage parents in supporting better choices by children.