Thinking outside of the Lunch Box about Recess
“I served Choicelunch today, and again my son said it didn’t taste good. Good thing I was there and held his basketball captive…no food, no play! I am glad I ordered the large portion because I ate 2 pieces and he ended up eating the rest. The kids are too eager to start playing. I think the food looks great and tastes great too!”
School lunch is in the news so much these days. Jamie Oliver, Michelle Obama and the rise in childhood obesity are all hot issues. Of course the central issue involves our food culture and the impact healthy food choices have on our kids. But, there are other aspects to school lunch, which have nothing to do with choosing grapes over skittles, or hummus over corn dogs.
Recess is one of them. We at Choicelunch spend a lot of time standing at school lunch tables and watching playgrounds. Let’s face it, we serve hot lunch at almost 200 schools and feed 15,000 kids a day; we know what goes on during lunch. As experts, parents and school leaders are increasingly asking us, “What else could help get more kids to eat better, even the kids who don’t eat Choicelunch, or whose parents don’t pack perfectly balanced lunches from home?”
No one talks much about it, but the duration and timing of the lunch period can be tremendously impactful in making a positive difference in improving the eating behaviors of kids. The Mom who wrote feedback recently on our website hit the nail on the head: kids want to play. They want to talk and let loose. Many want fast food, if they want food at all.
We have seen some schools which have switched the traditional order of lunch recess to have free time first and then time to sit and eat. The kids seem more relaxed with this arrangement. They are less anxious to run to the field and secure the best tetherball court. They savor their meal, take the time to peel the tangerine and don’t just gulp the easiest calorie-dense snack to tear into. More and more schools feel the pressure to decrease outside time and activities, but we applaud the creativity and the leadership at the schools that are extending the lunch hour, or re-prioritizing the order of the day. These schools are not conditioning their kids to eat fast food on the run. It will be thinking like this, “outside of the lunch box” which will turn the tide on raising healthier kids.
