Recess Before Lunch?

Benefits of Recess before Lunch Programs

Let’s begin with a few of the benefits of Recess before Lunch:

• Improved cafeteria behavior.
• Calmer more relax students in the cafeteria.
• Students retuning to classroom calmer and ready to learn.
• Drink more milk.
• Students throw away less food.
• Students eat more.
• Fewer discipline problems.
• Fewer visits to the school nurse.

What schools are saying about Recess before Lunch Programs

Let’s hear what a couple of principals have to say about recess before lunch. Principal Peters from McKinley Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington observed the following results from the recess before lunch program.

“By having recess before lunch, our students make better choices about what they eat. They eat more and always drink their fluids. It’s easier to settle them down into the classroom after lunch.” (Action for Healthy Kids)

Another principal from Highland Park Elementary School reported, “we have noticed less time wasted in transition. Students are calmer, more settled, and ready to begin learning when they come off the playground.”

Teachers too were asked about how Recess before Lunch was working in their schools.

“We have more uninterrupted teaching time,” one teacher commented. “There are fewer fights on the playground and we’re seeing better classroom behavior.” Teachers acknowledged that they had observed that students are not rushing through lunch to get to recess anymore.

Kids seemed the most pleased about the new schedule. “I get to soccer sooner; we get to play before lunch now.” one child noted, “If you eat before recess you get a tummy ache.” And just another stated, “It takes off all your energy so you aren’t moving around so much at lunch.”

Principals also voiced their need for hard research before implementing a new program like Recess before Lunch. Here are some research results from studies that identified some of the benefits. Children ate 24% more food, wasted 30% less food, consumed 8% more calories, consumed 35% more calcium and 13% more vitamin A.

Research findings on Recess before Lunch Programs

Another research study called the School Health Policies and Programs Study documented that less than 5% of elementary schools scheduled recess before lunch prior to 2001. However, recent research shows the number of schools implementing Recess before Lunch is rapidly growing.

Yet another research study was conducted by the Montana Team Nutrition Program. Their research indicated: A decrease in discipline problems on the playground, in the cafeteria, and in the classroom. Children returned to class more settled, calmer, and ready to learn. Focus groups talking with children found that children preferred playing prior to eating lunch.

You’re probably thinking “How do I get started?” First, let’s explore the barriers you’ll face in changing a long standing education tradition.

Administrator’s voiced the following concerns: It’s difficult to get people to buy into a change like this. They’ll have to be convinced that it’s better for students.

Generally administrators said, “I know that kids eat quickly and waste a lot of food in trying to hurry out to the playground to play. It’s important to me that they have enough time to eat without rushing. It’s inviting to think that a change like this could improve overall lunchroom behavior.

Teachers voiced concerns about how this would affect the focus on testing. And the schedule is already set for academic subjects, and “I’m not convinced that the change is a good idea.” They also had a concern over the ability of the lunch servers to serve so many children at once.

However, teachers liked the idea that fewer playground issues would spill over into the classroom and they saw that kids would be more motivated to get their work done to go out to recess right away.

The greatest resistance came from parents. They saw the new system as breaking with tradition. One voiced “Lunch before recess worked for me when I was little, I didn’t know there was a problem. Are we fixing something that isn’t broken?” Another piped in, “Shouldn’t schools be focusing on data and academic outcomes instead of recess considerations.”

Parents also identified some important barriers. How will the kids wash their hands before they eat lunch? What will they do with their coats? And one observed, “my child sometimes misses breakfast this will be too long for him to wait to eat.”

You may now be realizing, “O.K. this may not be as easy as I thought. Perhaps I need to think about this some more.”