Students Starving for Convenience: 9 A.M. Lunches?

Who eats lunch 9:30 a.m.? Apparently this is when lunch is scheduled for many school children. In fact, some schools even serve lunch as early as 8:30 a.m. This is not lunch, this is breakfast. But wait, the rationale one high school offered actually does make, a little, sense. The fact that some children are on the bus by 5:30 a.m. makes a 9:30 lunch slightly appealing, especially for those students who are not ready to eat before the sun rises. The size of the cafeteria, staff and amount of students who need to be served also determine the time of lunches.

My athletic son does eat breakfast, but after his 10 am lunch he is in school until I pick him up after sports practice around 5:30 p.m. This seven hour stretch is long according to anyone's standard. Add in game days and the span is potentially much longer.

There should be a law against this right? Well, actually there is. It is federally mandated that lunches are offered between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., but schools are consistently trying to push those ends to make it more convenient. This is all so ridiculous. I recognize the fact that schools need to contain the masses, but I also believe the system is completely out of touch with the actual human needs of a child.

So while many office workers are taking their first coffee break, their kids are eating lunch. Tired, hungry kids are not going to make the best food choices when they do have the opportunity to finally eat, and this plays right into the childhood obesity problem. Of course it is not the only factor, but when children across the country are thrown into starvation mode without access to recess, they are being taught bad habits that could last well past their school years.

What parents can do;

• Talk to your child. What time is their lunch? How do they feel about it? Visit the school during lunch to see for yourself.
• Aside from bringing up unrealistic lunch times with your school board, there are practical things you can do.
• Be sure your child eats breakfast. Specifically, be sure your child's breakfast is not full of sugary treats that will cause an inevitable crash. Nontraditional breakfasts with favorites like cheese sticks will help balance their blood sugar and stay with them longer.
• Pack a healthy lunch. Easy to eat individual items are good to combat rushed lunches.
• Talk to the teacher or principal to see if snack time can be implemented.

More by Sylvie Branch:
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