08.29.2013 Thanks to school nutrition advocates, many students are returning from summer vacation to find healthier meals and snacks on campus. But offering nutritious food doesn’t make a difference if students don’t have enough time to eat! Recent media coverage explored whether California students have enough time to eat school meals. PDF
Some schools may have lunch periods that are just too short. A commonly recommended standard is giving students at least 20 minutes to eat after they’ve gotten their food. Beyond the length of lunch periods, there may be other factors affecting students’time to eat, such as:
- Crowded lunch periods with too many students to serve at once
- Outdated facilities that can’t serve students quickly enough
- Inadequate staffing or points of service for school meals
- Scheduling recess after lunch so students rush through their meals in order to play
- School activities that conflict with lunch, such as disciplinary action, club meetings, tutoring, etc.
CFPA is committed to better understanding the factors that affect students’participation in school meal programs, including having enough time to eat. Work is underway to assess (1) students’perceptions of school meals and school meal periods, (2) the length and characteristics of school lunch periods, and (3) the effect that time to eat may have on students’dietary intake.
We welcome input from all stakeholders on this issue. Do students in your community have enough time to eat during the school day? Please contact Tracey Patterson at tracey@cfpa.net or 510.433.1122 ext. 101 to share your thoughts.
