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Louisiana Action for Healthy Kids - Team Nutrition
Time for Lunch
How much time is needed to eat a meal?
Many states recommend that students need at least 20 minutes to eat lunch and 10 minutes to eat breakfast starting from the time that they get their trays. Buergel et. al recommend a minimum of 23 minutes for elementary schools.
When children have a longer period of time to eat, they eat more foods offered in school lunch that fit into the Food Guide Pyramid. People who eat rapidly tend to over eat, which can lead to being overweight or obese. Conditioning children to eat at a faster rate, and not relying on normal cues related to being full, may place them at a higher risk for being overweight or obese later in life. Boys tend to eat faster than do girls. Researchers think that many boys are anxious to get out on the playground; therefore, scheduling recess before lunch is ideal. Girls are more interested in socialization at mealtime.
Many school cafeterias have multiple serving lines to speed up meal service so that students will not have to wait in line for a long time, thereby giving the students a longer time period to eat lunch. The "Grab-and-Go” concept is being used in many schools to accommodate busing schedules and to encourage eating breakfast.
Reference: Buergel, N.S., Bergan, E.A., Knutson, A., and Lindaas, M.A. (2002). Students Consuming Sack Lunches Devote More Time to Eating Than Those Consuming School Lunch. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 102 (9), 1283- 1285.
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