Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 1

Brittney Bowers

Why it is Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students

Southwestern Community College

 Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 2

More often than not, school is the only place some students are given a meal. Students

are only allotted an average of twenty minutes to get to the lunchroom, get their meal, eat, and

then return to class. Due to having such a short amount of time during lunch, many students

are going without a lunch. Kristy Duncan even states that when a child is hungry it affects the

way they act. They are not able to concentrate, be creative, nor are they able to problem-solve

as they should. (“Free Lunch is A Good Thing for Children”) Lunchtime for students in school

should be extended and students should all get free lunch. Extending lunch time and making it

free for all students overall helps improve their grades and allows for each student to eat

without being discriminated against.

Why is it important to extend lunch times for student? Most schools only allot students

an average of twenty minutes for lunch. Eating lunch during the school day is important for

students, and if missed it can affect their overall academic achievement. Byzak explains that

when a student can actually enjoy their lunch and socialize then their academic performance

goes up. (“The Comfortable Cafeteria Program for Promoting Student Participation and

Enjoyment: An Outcome Study”) They tend to be more engaging, being able to concentrate and

focus in class. When children have a more pleasant environment in the cafeteria, it also helps

reduce their behavioral issues as well. Extending lunch times will allow for students to have

some time to relax and take a break from the long school days that most students have to deal

with. I know when I was in high school, we had 20-minute lunches. That included the time to
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get lunch, eat, and be back in class. Even though I was a teen mother or two toddlers, I still felt

more rushed than I would at home. Students need to be able to socialize and relax because

selfcare is important. Parents have also noticed that their children are not able to get a full

meal in, especially in the younger children. One parent noted that their Kindergartener was

provided with an apple, but due to the time they are allotted, this child is not able to finish his

apple. Other school officials noticed that younger children are having a more difficult time

eating some of the food offered to them. (Blondin, 2015) Younger children are often faced with

this problem more than the older ones. When a younger child is unable to finish his meal, he or

she might still be hungry. Obviously being a mother, I see the struggles of a child who is hungry.

Especially at that age they still have a difficult time expressing themselves.

Students often rely on food from school. This could be the only time some students eat.

So, why not make it a free meal? Schools already offer free/reduced lunch but it is not offered

to every student that should qualify. Students who receive it often skip out on it because they

face being bullied by those who are not receiving it themselves. That is it would be a more

effective to just make it free for everyone. Woodard (2015) states that children who did not

have any struggles paying for lunch felt entitled. Due to school lunch times being so short, the

long lines of children wanting a hot meal only made these “entitled” children want to bring

their lunch. Those who receive any assistance even paying for lunch were often teased. When

Woodard (2015) did a pupil questionnaire, she found that children who qualified for free lunch

was considered to be one of the top three reasons for being bullied. So, after learning this a

team came together to figure out how they were going to deal with those who were bullying

others. Considering my situation growing up, I can relate to those who received reduced lunch
 Why is it Important to Improve Lunch Time for Students 4

but never utilized it because of the way that other students, especially while I was younger,

looked at it. Eating school lunch was considered to be nasty and something people only did If

they could not afford to bring their own. Children are vulnerable starting into their teenage

years and they definitely do not need to be put into groups.

Some might argue that allowing for all students to receive free lunch would be nothing

but a waste of food. Most schools do offer free breakfast for their students, and In doing so

cafeteria workers have noted an increase in a waste of food. But, most of the waste that they

have noted has been milk. Generally, out of all the students who participate in receiving

breakfast most always throw the milk away or put it back. While food might be wasted, It can

also be attributed to the taste of the food. (Blondin, 2015) While it is important to have a well-

rounded, healthy diet it is also important that most of the food is “edible.” Another way we

could reduce the waste that some say would come from allowing free/reduced lunch, make

sure a class roster is completed, even at a high school level. Researchers from Modifying Eating

Lifestyles at a School examined what the students intake looks like during a twenty minute

lunch period. After analyzing 1,001 students they discovered that there was a significant

amount of waste from these students simply because the lack of time available. These

researchers did acknowledge that while it would be almost impossible for every school to want

to lengthen the lunch periods. They did come up with ways to reduce wait time for these

students; set up self-checkout lines and add more workers into the serving line. (Feldscher,

2015)
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In conclusion, lunch time for students is an important factor that affects their academic

performance. As Juliana Cohen (2015) states, “Many children, especially those from low-income

families, rely on meals for up to half their daily energy intake…” When professors are able to

acknowledge how important it is for students to be able to eat their lunch, then as a

community it is important to step up. A child’s education should be the main concern for

everyone since they are the future, they will be running the country when we are older. It is

them we will rely on.

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Reference Page

Bazyk, S., Demirjian, L., Horvath, F., & Doxsey, L. (2018). The comfortable cafeteria program for

promoting student participation and enjoyment: An outcome study. The American Journal

of Occupational Therapy, 72(3), 1-9. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.025379

Blondin, S. A., Djang, H. C., Metayer, N., Anzman-Frasca, S., & Economos, C. D. (2015). 'It's just

so much waste.' A qualitative investigation of food waste in a universal free school breakfast

program. Public Health Nutrition, 18(9), 1565-1577.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136898001400294

Colllier R. (2015). Free lunch is a good thing for children. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association

journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 187(1), E11. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-4952

Feldscher, K. (2015, September 11). Short lunch periods dont serve students needs. Retrieved from
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/09/short-lunch-periods-dont-serve-students-needs/.

Naughton, L. (2014). Giving children the best start: Free school meals: The journal of the health

visitors' association. Community Practitioner, 87(1), 14-6. Retrieved from

http://nclive.org/cgi-

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Woodward, J., Sahota, P., Pike, J., & Molinari, R. (2015). Interventions to increase free school

meal take-up. Health Education, 115(2), 197-213. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/HE-08-

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