Time to Eat School Lunch

Time to Eat School Meals

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School meals serve as a learning laboratory for developing healthy eating habits and acceptable

mealtime behaviors. Enjoying good food with friends in a welcoming, safe environment can be a

favorite part of the school day. It also shows that schools value the importance of mealtime.

There are no federal or state requirements for the amount of time students have to each lunch.

USDA Food and Nutrition Services “encourages schools to provide sufficient lunch periods that are

long enough to give all students adequate time to be served and eat their lunches.” The American

Academy of Pediatrics recommends that students get at least 20 minutes for lunch (sitting down and

does not include waiting in line).

Consider the following strategies when looking to increase the amount of time for school meals:

Strategy

Pros

Cons

Serve pre-packaged or

pre-portioned foods

 Selection is quick and easy

 Added costs for packaging/ containers

 More material waste

Stagger classes arriving

to lunch by setting up a

rotation

 Reduces amount of time

students are in line

 Potential to reduce behavior

problems

 Communication challenges

 If a class arrives early or late it can

disrupt the flow

 Can affect teacher break time

Increase the number of

serving lines

 Moves students through

lines faster

 Increase in staff (labor expenses)

 Additional equipment

Of the serving lines

available, offer a meal

express line

(reimbursable meal only,

no a l carte)

 Faster line option

 Encourages consumption of

a reimbursable meal

 Communication challenges with

students

 Potential overt identification of students

certified for free or reduced meals

Offer “bundled” grab n’

go meals

 Faster line option

 Includes cold items that can

be made in advance

 Packaging can be costly

 Increase in material waste

 May reduce student choice and could

result in food waste

Implement Recess

Before Lunch

 Can eliminate students

rushing to recess

 May increase student

appetites

 A place to store students outdoor gear

(i.e. jackets, hats, gloves, etc.)

 Supervision and conflicts with teacher

breaks

Students bring lunch

from home

 Reduces the number of

students in line

 Reduces participation in school meals

 Reduces federal reimbursement

 Potential for lack of balanced meal

Serve students all

components and do not

implement offer vs.

serve

 Serving time decreased as

each students receives the

same thing

 Potential for large amount of waste

 Students do not to get choose

 Costly

Time to Eat School Meals

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Tips

 School lunch provides the opportunity to talk, laugh and socialize with friends. Avoid the

use of whistles, traffic lights or eating in silence.

 Students eat better when offered a choice, especially with fruits and vegetables. Offer at

least two fruits and two vegetables each day. However, offering too many choices can

make it hard for students to decide and can cause the offerings to be repetitive.

 Observe the mealtime from a student’s perspective by joining the end of the line. How

long are students in line? How much seated time is there to eat the meal? Talk with the

students.

 Adjustments to the school day schedule do not happen often, but when they do, make

sure there is ample time for school breakfast and lunch.

 Keep an open mind. There is not a one size fits all when it comes to the amount of time

needed. There are many variables and each school is different.

Resources/References

 Action for Healthy Kids

 Comfortable Cafeterias - Montana

 Iowa Recess Before Lunch Readiness Checklist (Page 8)

 Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

 Journal of Child Nutrition and Management

 Bridging the Gap Research

Questions? Contact [email protected] - January 2019

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