How Playing First Enhances Quality Eating
Dreading a still full lunchbox and a melting child who is beside themselves with hunger at the end of the school day is the reality for many parents.
Not eating lunch is a common problem, not just for children who are picky or have issues eating. My children, who I lovingly say would eat the table if salted, still have returned home on many occasions with a box that looks identical to the one that they left with in the morning. It’s not that they aren’t hungry. In fact, the opposite is true: By the time they get home, they are ravenous. It’s because they ran out of time. An errand for a teacher or getting caught up in a conversation and suddenly the allocated 10 minutes is done, eating time is finished and that’s it for the afternoon.
Speaking with parents, senior leaders and teachers, I have found this is a common thread and one that continues throughout Intermediate level, too. For students, it’s certainly not ideal. Having low blood sugar, feeling hungry and the associated loss of concentration is not conducive to a productive afternoon. For teachers, hungry students are not great students. For parents, it’s a challenge on a few levels. Children not eating means they are less able to self-manage and are ravenous at a time that may be difficult to cater to. This can have a knock-on effect too, where evening meals are less well received as there has been serious eating in the late afternoon.
For children who are already challenged eaters the issues are compounded. Having no lunch, or eating minimal amounts is a regular occurrence. This can also be habit forming where a student gets used to skipping meals causing less awareness physiologically that they are hungry.
Motivated through my work with families who shared a similar concern about how little their children were regularly eating (considering approx. 30% of food intake is during the day) and watching even my boys miss lunch resulted in the search for a for a solution.
What I found, was that some schools were already using timing to their advantage. Schools in both Australia and New Zealand have implemented a new schedule of play/eat rather than eat/ play. This has been beneficial for students and works positively on a number of levels:
-Playing is usually the priority through Kindy and the primary years. Given the choice between eating and running around or socialising, many children choose to play first. If lunch is placed between release from the classroom and play it becomes an obstacle rather than a pleasure. Eating the bare minimum to satisfy requirements becomes habit.
-Lunch can often be hot on the heels of morning tea. Hunger is a powerful motivator and if it is not present, then eating is less of a priority. Enabling play prior to eating gives the students time to burn off morning tea, work up an appetite and look forward to eating.
-Having the play carrot dangled, a time limit to eat and the distraction of all the other students creates an atmosphere that often impedes rather than supports eating. All of us eat better when relaxed and calm. This is our goal.
If we reverse the eat/play and students get to run around first, we automatically resolve many of these issues. Children that are not seeking out play during lunch are children who are more hungry and naturally more tired and therefore more relaxed. This provides the opportunity to more smoothly progress towards the calming and focus required for the classroom (as per studies from the University of Canterbury).
Adding in a few additional conditions can result in eating improvement across the board:
-Rethinking eating time limits can reduce some of the eating challenges for certain children. The pressure to eat within x number of minutes (and this can be as little as 10 minutes only) can dampen appetite. There are also children who naturally eat at a more measured pace. Finishing all their food within a short period of time is not possible. Extending the time allocated to eating does enable more food to be consumed.
-Evaluating the eating environment to ensure it is conducive to eating. Quiet, calm and comfortable surroundings make for better eating experiences. A noisy fast food restaurant with plastic chairs versus a relaxed restaurant, for instance. Sitting comfortably, having quiet time and being in a small group all contribute to eating more competently.
-Assess supervisor responsibilities. Just as family meals support better eating, so does having an example to follow during lunches at Kindy and school. Having an eating role model present who is able to illustrate competent eating and support that in students is invaluable.
-Redirecting focus may be subtle but it’s important.
Taking the pressure off the eating. When we have limited time and competing interests like play, the main push is to gobble something down. Often this is a specific item, for example the sandwich. This introduces an unnatural pressure to eat and moreover to eat food x. Being pushed to eat is not comfortable, especially for children who find eating more challenging. Instead, an atmosphere of eating communally and pleasurably supports long-term competent eating.
“Ensuring students eat well during the day is beneficial to all.”
We place so much emphasis on learning, emotional maturity and physical activity, yet all of these are to a degree, contingent on children being adequately fuelled.