Recess before Lunch?
Elementary schools across the country have implemented a new lunch schedule where recess comes before lunch. These schools have seen many benefits of the new lunch schedule, including a reduction in lunch waste, increased healthy food consumption and reduced behavioral problems in the classroom directly after recess.
Studies have found that when recess is held before lunch, elementary students do not rush through lunch to get out on the playground which leads to consumption of significantly more nutritious food and less plate waste. Moreover, schools have seen positive academic benefits to creating a recess before lunch policy. Students who eat a nutritious lunch are more likely to concentrate in the classroom which results in more learning as well as less fatigue in the later afternoon. In addition, schools who have implemented a recess before lunch policy have reported less behavioral problems in the classroom when students come into the class directly from eating lunch. School administrators have also noticed behavioral improvements on the playground, in the lunchroom and in hallways when recess occurs prior to lunch.
How does a district implement a recess before lunch policy? The Montana Team Nutrition Program has been working closely with schools to promote and assist in the implementation of a recess before lunch policy at the elementary level. Despite the advantages of recess before lunch, there may be a barriers that a school or district needs to address to make the transition successful. For example, in large schools it may be difficult to coordinate all the students off the playground and into the lunchroom, for students who do not eat breakfast prior to school, feeding them at a later time can bring resistance, and coordinating hand-washing after recess and before lunch could be a challenge. The Montana Team Nutrition program created a guide to help schools and communities learn how to reduce these barriers and successfully implement a recess before lunch policy.
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