Children's Weekday Lunches: 93.5% are 'Homemade Bento,' 65.2% of Parents Say 'Making Lunch Every Day is Tough'
Key facts
- Children's Weekday Lunches: 93.5% are 'Homemade Bento,' 65.2% of Parents Say 'Making Lunch Every Day is Tough'
- PECOFREE Corporation's survey targeting families using its school lunch service revealed that 93.5% of children's weekday lunches are homemade bentos, and 65.2% of parents find preparing lunch every day challenging. This trend is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students without school lunch programs, highlighting PECOFREE's aim to reduce this burden and improve children's eating environments.
- Source: PR Times
- Date: April 28, 2026
Direct answer
PECOFREE Corporation's survey targeting families using its school lunch service revealed that 93.5% of children's weekday lunches are homemade bentos, and 65.2% of parents find preparing lunch every day challenging. This trend is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students without school lunch programs, highlighting PECOFREE's aim to reduce this burden and improve children's eating environments.
- Citation
- Children's Weekday Lunches: 93.5% are 'Homemade Bento,' 65.2% of Parents Say 'Making Lunch Every Day is Tough' (April 28, 2026), PR Times
- Source
- PR Times
- Date
- April 28, 2026
PECOFREE Corporation's survey targeting families using its school lunch service revealed that 93.5% of children's weekday lunches are homemade bentos, and 65.2% of parents find preparing lunch every day challenging. This trend is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students without school lunch programs, highlighting PECOFREE's aim to reduce this burden and improve children's eating environments.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 28, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 13:01 (1h 29m after Collected)
The Reality of School Lunches Revealed by PECOFREE Survey
PECOFREE Corporation, which operates the school lunch service "PECOFREE," conducted a survey targeting families attending schools that utilize its service, focusing on children's eating habits and food education at home.
When asked about children's weekday lunches, the highest response was "making homemade bentos for them" at 93.5%. Since approximately 90% of the respondents were parents of junior and senior high school students, it became clear that lunch, especially in junior and senior high schools without school lunch programs, heavily relies on families preparing bentos.
Furthermore, 65.2% of parents responded that "making bentos every day is tough," highlighting the current situation where school lunches are sustained by the burden on families.
While the strong belief that "it is desirable to prepare homemade bentos" persists, the reality is that many parents feel burdened.
Schools Without School Lunch Programs Tend to Leave Lunch Up to Families
In Japan's school system, public elementary and junior high schools have established school lunch programs, but many high schools and private elementary and junior high schools do not.
Therefore, students' lunches often depend on homemade bentos or meals purchased individually, and the system for schools to provide lunch is limited.
In this survey, when asked about how children's weekday lunches are prepared, the results were:
- Making homemade bentos for them: 93.5%
- Purchasing from convenience stores for them: 4.1%
- Using the school cafeteria: 4.1%
*Multiple answers allowed
This result clearly showed that families bear the majority of school lunches.
"Making Bentos Every Day is Tough" 65.2%
When parents were asked about their concerns regarding children's weekday lunches, many responded with:
- Making bentos every day is tough: 65.2%
- Can't think of variations for meals: 55.7%
- Worried about nutritional balance: 51.7%
This indicates that lunch preparation is a significant burden for parents.
With the increase in dual-income households, the difficulty of solely supporting children's eating habits at home is becoming apparent.
Against this background, family eating habits are no longer solely dependent on homemade meals; changes are also being seen in incorporating external services and prepared foods (chushoku).
Towards a New System to Support Children's Eating Habits
This survey revealed that children's eating habits are currently largely supported by the efforts and burdens of parents.
PECOFREE aims to build a new lunch infrastructure that supports children's eating environments while alleviating the burden on parents by providing a system where lunch can be ordered and received at school.
In schools with high utilization rates among those introduced to the service, approximately 77% of families registered and use the service, indicating that utilization is progressing in response to the need for parental burden reduction.
Currently, PECOFREE is used in 2,300 facilities across 42 prefectures nationwide.
The detailed data of this survey is summarized in a research report available for download from the official PECOFREE website.
▼Download the research report here
https://pecofree.jp/whitepaper/research
Survey Outline
Survey Name: Survey on "Children's Eating Habits and Food Education at Home"
Survey Period: September 9, 2025 (Tuesday) - April 17, 2026 (Friday)
Survey Method: Internet survey
Target Audience: Parents of children attending schools (elementary, junior high, high schools) introduced to PECOFREE
Number of Respondents: 2,195 people
Breakdown of Respondents: Elementary school 7%, Junior high and high school 93%
Survey Source: PECOFREE Corporation
Company Profile
Company Name: PECOFREE Corporation
Established: February 2021
Representative: Tatsuo Kawanami
Location: Lune Ayla, 1-28-1 Shiobara, Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Business Activities: Development and operation of a lunch provision platform for schools and after-school care
Website: https://pecofree.jp
Contact for this matter
PECOFREE Corporation
E-mail: pr@pecofree.jp
Inquiry Form: https://pecofree.jp/contact
PECOFREE Corporation, which operates the school lunch service "PECOFREE," conducted a survey targeting families attending schools that utilize its service, focusing on children's eating habits and food education at home.
When asked about children's weekday lunches, the highest response was "making homemade bentos for them" at 93.5%. Since approximately 90% of the respondents were parents of junior and senior high school students, it became clear that lunch, especially in junior and senior high schools without school lunch programs, heavily relies on families preparing bentos.
Furthermore, 65.2% of parents responded that "making bentos every day is tough," highlighting the current situation where school lunches are sustained by the burden on families.
While the strong belief that "it is desirable to prepare homemade bentos" persists, the reality is that many parents feel burdened.
Schools Without School Lunch Programs Tend to Leave Lunch Up to Families
In Japan's school system, public elementary and junior high schools have established school lunch programs, but many high schools and private elementary and junior high schools do not.
Therefore, students' lunches often depend on homemade bentos or meals purchased individually, and the system for schools to provide lunch is limited.
In this survey, when asked about how children's weekday lunches are prepared, the results were:
- Making homemade bentos for them: 93.5%
- Purchasing from convenience stores for them: 4.1%
- Using the school cafeteria: 4.1%
*Multiple answers allowed
This result clearly showed that families bear the majority of school lunches.
"Making Bentos Every Day is Tough" 65.2%
When parents were asked about their concerns regarding children's weekday lunches, many responded with:
- Making bentos every day is tough: 65.2%
- Can't think of variations for meals: 55.7%
- Worried about nutritional balance: 51.7%
This indicates that lunch preparation is a significant burden for parents.
With the increase in dual-income households, the difficulty of solely supporting children's eating habits at home is becoming apparent.
Against this background, family eating habits are no longer solely dependent on homemade meals; changes are also being seen in incorporating external services and prepared foods (chushoku).
Towards a New System to Support Children's Eating Habits
This survey revealed that children's eating habits are currently largely supported by the efforts and burdens of parents.
PECOFREE aims to build a new lunch infrastructure that supports children's eating environments while alleviating the burden on parents by providing a system where lunch can be ordered and received at school.
In schools with high utilization rates among those introduced to the service, approximately 77% of families registered and use the service, indicating that utilization is progressing in response to the need for parental burden reduction.
Currently, PECOFREE is used in 2,300 facilities across 42 prefectures nationwide.
The detailed data of this survey is summarized in a research report available for download from the official PECOFREE website.
▼Download the research report here
https://pecofree.jp/whitepaper/research
Survey Outline
Survey Name: Survey on "Children's Eating Habits and Food Education at Home"
Survey Period: September 9, 2025 (Tuesday) - April 17, 2026 (Friday)
Survey Method: Internet survey
Target Audience: Parents of children attending schools (elementary, junior high, high schools) introduced to PECOFREE
Number of Respondents: 2,195 people
Breakdown of Respondents: Elementary school 7%, Junior high and high school 93%
Survey Source: PECOFREE Corporation
Company Profile
Company Name: PECOFREE Corporation
Established: February 2021
Representative: Tatsuo Kawanami
Location: Lune Ayla, 1-28-1 Shiobara, Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Business Activities: Development and operation of a lunch provision platform for schools and after-school care
Website: https://pecofree.jp
Contact for this matter
PECOFREE Corporation
E-mail: pr@pecofree.jp
Inquiry Form: https://pecofree.jp/contact
FAQ
What are the key facts in this article?
PECOFREE Corporation's survey targeting families using its school lunch service revealed that 93.5% of children's weekday lunches are homemade bentos, and 65.2% of parents find preparing lunch every day challenging. This trend is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students without school lunch programs, highlighting PECOFREE's aim to reduce this burden and improve children's eating environments.
What is the direct answer?
PECOFREE Corporation's survey targeting families using its school lunch service revealed that 93.5% of children's weekday lunches are homemade bentos, and 65.2% of parents find preparing lunch every day challenging. This trend is particularly evident among junior and senior high school students without school lunch programs, highlighting PECOFREE's aim to reduce this burden and improve children's eating environments.
What is the source and date?
PR Times: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000045.000077766.html | April 28, 2026