Moving the schedule of recess and lunch in elementary schools can prompt students to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables, a new study claims, USA Today reported.
According to a report by researchers from Cornell University and Brigham Young University, moving recess before lunch is a more effective way in making kids follow a healthy diet.
For the study, Joe Price, an economics professor at Brigham Young, and David Just from Cornell visited seven elementary schools in Utah. They monitored how much fruits and vegetables students from grade 1 to 6 are consuming by checking the volume of food being thrown in the cafeterias' trash bins.
They noticed that in schools where recess is scheduled before lunch time, students ate more healthy food items by 54 percent as compared to those that have a reverse break schedule. These schools also have more students who eat fruits and vegetables during lunch time.
According to Price, letting kids take their recess before lunch has a significant impact on their dietary habits. Since recess is shorter than lunch, most kids would rather spend their free time playing instead of eating a full or balanced meal.
"Recess is a pretty big deal for most kids," Price said in a statement according to BYU News. "If you have kids choose between playing and eating their veggies, the time spent playing is going to win most of the time."
Due to the energy they spend playing during recess, kids tend to feel hungrier when lunch time comes around. With a bigger appetite, the young students become more willing to eat anything on their plates including vegetables and fruits.
In turn, since students are eating more, less food is thrown away by schools.
"Increased fruit and vegetable consumption in young children can have positive long term health effects," Price and Just noted. "Additionally, decreasing waste of fruits and vegetables is important for schools and districts that are faced with high costs of offering healthier food choices."
