Should students have longer lunches?

A study from the Harvard University School of Public Health showed that some children get less than 15 minutes to eat lunch at school, and need more time. Children do not learn about taking time to eat healthful food when their lunch periods are cut short.

Even children who have lunch periods officially lasting 40 minutes find that, once time to get to the cafeteria and wait in line is factored in, they often end up with far less time to eat. As pressure grows to squeeze in more instructional time, lunch time often gets cut. In addition, school cafeterias are trying to serve more healthful food, which takes more time to eat than does junk food, impacting children's lunch periods even more.