Is it the trouble with children (or parents)?

Okay, so I'm on my soapbox again but so what. I heard a report on the radio this morning which said that research had been done into what primary school children were taking to school in their lunchboxes and only ONE percent had a balanced packed lunch with vegetables and fruit.
Back in the dark ages when I first started school, I used to take a packed lunch in an old Oxo tin and in those days we didn't have yoghurts, very rarely had crisps and absolutely no fizzy or sugary drinks. My packed lunch was usually a cheese sandwich and an apple with a rich tea biscuit. We used to have water to drink because we had already drunk a third of a pint of milk at breaktime then when I got home in the afternoon I would have a cup of tea.
Dinner was eaten in the early eveining by the whole family and was meat with two veg followed by a milk pudding. In those days we didn't have the choice of foods readily available to today's families and there were no supermarkets in the fifties either so food was simple home cooked fare and we were NEVER asked what we would like. Because I came from a large family, we all used to devour everything put in front of us. There were no fussy eaters in our house.
Luckily, my mother was an excellent cook and could knock up a very tasty meal out of almost nothing at all and we were all fairly well fed. My father used to grow vegetables and we kept rabbits for the table and chicken, so eggs were always readily available and so was fresh meat.
It's all a bit different now as the family unit has all but disappeared and the majority of mums have to go out to work so have very little time to bother with meals. In some ways I can understand them taking the easy way out and giving children what they demand but perhaps the main problem lies with our educational system. We had 'domestic science' lessons at school and learned how to cook basic meals for a family and also how to prepare meals that were nutritionally balanced but I don't think that happens today. It seem that pupils can choose the lessons that they wish to do once they're a couple of years into senior school.
Another misconception seems to be that it takes too long to prepare a good meal and it is also expensive, but that's not true as many of the well known TV chefs are quick to demonstrate. Then you get the ones that say 'I can't cook'. Rubbish! If you can read and follow simple instructions then you can jolly well cook because there are no end of basic cookery books on the market. As for it being too expensive that's also tosh, since retiring and finding myself on a very tight budget, I eat every bit as well as I did when I was working (a bit too well actually!).
My mother never had the choice of cookery books, time and work saving gadets and selection of foods available when we were children and I didn't have as many as there are today when my children were small but we managed. I sometimes wonder how todays parents would manage if they were transported back thirty years and beyond!