Seemingly forever, elementary school children have rushed through lunch so they can maximize their time at recess.

At a recent meeting of the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) Board of Directors, King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, a Redmond resident and former teacher, suggested a possible switch to “recess before lunch” in the district.

As chair of the county’s Board of Health School Obesity Prevention Committee, Lambert explained that obesity and related health problems such as diabetes decrease students’ productivity in the classroom and erode children’s self-esteem. In a study that took place in Montana, children who went to recess before lunch had higher scores and fewer behavioral problems than those who ate first and went to recess after. They also made fewer trips to the school nurse.

Why?

Lambert noted that “when kids are in a hurry to go to recess, they don’t eat well.”

When they get exercise before lunch, they are hungrier and consume more fruits, vegetables and milk. Less food is thrown away and they don’t have indigestion from running around just after eating. That makes them more relaxed and better able to focus on learning.

Lambert also advocated school gardens “to help students with hands-on learning in math and science — and kids eat more fruits and vegetables if they work in a garden.”

Joining Lambert were Donna Oberg, of Public Health — Seattle & King County and Nancy Lytle, a Sodexo employee who is the food services dietitian for LWSD and also serves on the Board of Health’s school nutrition committee.

They concurred with Lambert’s observation that going to recess after lunch makes children more anxious to get to the playground than to eat enough nutritious food.

LWSD Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball praised Sodexo’s efforts in recent years to make nutritious foods more available and more appealing to children in the district.

Following the meeting, we asked Traci Pierce, chief schools officer for the LWSD if the “recess before lunch” switch was feasible and if parents and teachers would embrace the idea.

“I believe that we have had a few of our schools look into this and I believe that Redmond Elementary experimented with this at some grades in the spring of last year,” said Pierce.

Because Redmond Elementary has a new principal this year, there might not be enough feedback from parents and teachers available to indicate whether the idea caught on.

However, said Pierce, “Currently, each school sets their own recess and lunch schedules and the logistics vary from school to school depending on the size of the school, the school facilities, whether the school has a lunch room or not — in some schools, students eat in their classrooms, etc. Some schools are aware of the idea about recess before lunch and could decide to try it. It would not have to be a district-wide decision. We will continue to learn about the potential benefits and pitfalls from those places that are experimenting with the idea.”

LWSD communications director Kathryn Reith agreed that there are good reasons to explore the idea, but “some logistical issues, not insurmountable, but things we have to think about.”

Students who bring lunches from home would have to go back to their classrooms to get them before sitting down to lunch — or some might be bringing homemade lunches out onto the playground where they, or lunch money, could easily be lost. Lunch lines, for those who buy food at school, could also be a problem. Schools have to stagger the times that different classes come through the lines to effectively keep things moving.

“If all the kids arrive at once from the playground, you’re overwhelmed,” said Reith.

Hand-washing is another important aspect of implementing the idea.

“Right now, teachers can supervise their classes and make sure they wash their hands before going to lunch,” said Reith. “Coming straight from the playground into the lunchroom makes it difficult to get every child to a sink to wash their hands.”

For students who eat in their classrooms, access to a sink would be greater but some kids might skip hand-washing to dig into their food.

For more information about the Montana schools which successfully adopted “recess before lunch” programs, visit www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin389.shtml.