When lunchtime at school gets shorter, students eat less of their meals and discard more food, said the New York Times in summarizing a study of 1,000 children at six elementary and middle schools. “Giving kids enough time to eat appears to play an important role” in food selection and consumption,” said the lead author of the study, Juliana Cohen of Merrimack College. In schools that allowed less than 20 minutes for lunch, students consumed 13-percent less of their entrées, 12-percent less of vegetables and 10-percent less milk, according to the study, which appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
“The researchers found that children who had less than 20 minutes to eat their meal in a lunch period not only ate less, but they ate less healthily,” said Medical News Today. “Rather than finishing part of the meal and leaving the rest, the team found students with less time made a start on their entrée, vegetables and milk – but finished nothing.” The researchers encouraged schools to find ways to get students through the lunch line faster. Some students had only 10 minutes to eat after waiting in the serving line or being delayed getting to the cafeteria.