A new Cornell University study might have an answer to the guidelines for school children who must take a fruit or vegetable as a part of their school lunch.
A little tweak in scheduling can help get those healthy foods in kids’ stomachs instead of the garbage can by making sure the lunch period comes after the racing, chasing and playing that accompanies recess.
That simple change of holding recess before lunchtime increased fruit and vegetable consumption by 54 percent, according to a study co-authored by David Just of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Researches found that there was a 45 percent increase in those eating at least one serving of fruits and vegetables, and for those that didn’t switch, consumption of fruits and vegetables decreased.
The reasoning is pretty straightforward: Serve lunch before recess, and kids haven’t worked up the kind of appetite that makes the healthy add-ons enticing enough to eat.
It’s even worse when lunch is directly before recess, Just said.
The reasoning is pretty straightforward: Serve lunch before recess, and kids haven’t worked up the kind of appetite that makes the healthy add-ons enticing enough to eat.
It’s even worse when lunch is directly before recess, Just said.
The food guidelines, in effect since the 2012-13 school year, require that a student take at least one serving of fruit or vegetable to qualify as a reimbursable meal from the Department of Agriculture. The premise is a good one, said Darleen Serbaniewicz, a school lunch specialist with the Dryden and Groton school districts, but has its drawbacks.
“Kids will definitely take them,” Serbaniewicz said of the healthy food offerings. “Whether they are eating them or not, I can’t honestly say that.”
Schools have been working hard to better market the healthy choices as a way to get kids interested in eating what they are forced to take, she said. Since the changes went into effect she has noticed appreciable changes in what, and how much, kids eat.
“I think, from the first year it started, we are seeing less stuff in the garbage,” she said.
Still, she said, any ideas to entice more kids to eat those healthy foods are worth considering.
Sources: Ithaca Journal:
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2015/01/15/cornell-school-lunch-study/21821825/
