Ensuring Adequate Time to Eat

This web page provides background information, best practices, and resources to support a healthy school environment and adequate seat time for students to eat their school meals.

Overview

Creating a positive school meal environment, including providing adequate time to eat once a child receives their meal, is a proven strategy to help students reach their full academic potential and to improve their overall health and well-being. Studies show that longer school lunch periods are associated with increased student consumption of healthy food choices such as more fruits, vegetables and less plate waste. Additionally, there is a direct correlation between a healthy diet and a student’s ability to learn and thrive.

With the implementation of Universal Meals in School Year 2022–23, public and charter schools, and county offices of education, are required to make available two meals, a breakfast and a lunch, to all students each school day. With the resulting increase in meals served, schools are encouraged to examine the student meal experience, including adequate time to eat.

The California Department of Education (CDE) strongly encourages schools to ensure their students have adequate time to eat after being served in order to maximize the nutritional benefits of school meals.

While there are no current federal or state mandates for the amount of time allotted for breakfast and lunch meal periods, Senate Bill (SB) 348 Pupil meals amended the California Code of Regulations Section 49501.5 (e) requiring the CDE, along with partner input, to develop a recommendation for what constitutes adequate time to eat. The CDE worked with the Child Nutrition Advisory Council (CNAC) to conduct a review of the evidence based studies, and develop recommendations that students have at least 10 minutes to eat breakfast and 20 minutes to eat lunch once they are seated. A more detailed overview of the benefits of providing adequate time to eat can be found on the Child Nutrition Advisory Council’s Adequate Time to Eat Fact Sheet (PDF).

Best Practices

Below are some suggestions to help increase the time a student would have to eat their meals.

Include Local School Wellness Policy Approaches
Point of Service and Seating
Lunch Periods
Supervision at Lunch
Recess or Free Time
Implement Smarter Lunchrooms Movement Approaches
Implement Innovative Breakfast Strategies

Include Local School Wellness Policy Approaches

Local educational agencies (LEAs) can enact district policies to safeguard adequate time to eat through their local school wellness policies; examples include:

Establishing meal period minimum timeframes that consider travel and service time needs
Requiring the implementation of breakfast after the bell service models
Mandating recess after lunch in elementary schools Point of Service and Seating

Point of Service and Seating

Partner with students to routinely review the amount of time students typically spend in line to determine the actual time available to eat.
Upgrade or add points of service to speed up or shorten the lunch line.
Rearrange points of service for better access for students. Work with students for placement recommendations.
Place grab and go carts near school exits to encourage students who attend open campuses to remain on site for lunch.
Use barcode scanners, photo identifications, or lanyards with lunch cards to help speed up meal service.
Observe students during mealtimes and ensure that there are ample seating options nearby such as benches, tables, and open space, taking into account temperature and shade considerations.
Use classrooms as a service point for breakfast in the classroom

Lunch Periods

Add an additional lunch period or institute staggered or overlapping lunches.
Schedule lunch periods after recess.
Review the timing of the lunch period and its proximity to breakfast, second chance breakfast, and snack breaks ensure that students have an appetite for lunch.
In middle and high schools, consider lunch period start times by class location so that students who are in class farthest from points of service are released first.
Incorporate mindfulness activities in the cafeteria. Encourage children to finish their meal by having a few minutes of quiet time at the end of the eating period.

Supervision at Lunch

Schedule additional staff to supervise in the cafeteria or on the lunch line.
Ask for parent volunteers to help provide lunchtime supervision.
Ask the principal or vice principal to drop in during lunch periods to engage with students and promote the school meal.

Recess or Free Time

Implement recess before lunch.
Alternate lunch and recess: some students are out playing while others eat.
For middle and high schools, include time for passing time to and from lunch. This ensures that the lunch period is for eating, and not travel, and also ensures that students whose previous classes are some distance away from the cafeteria have enough time to seat and eat their school lunch.

Implement Smarter Lunchrooms Movement Approaches

The Smarter Lunchroom Movement (SLM) applies low and no-cost strategies in the cafeteria environment to promote healthy eating behaviors. For example, SLM strategies include:

Create a healthy-items only speed line
Add grab-and-go reimbursable meal options
Identify one entrée as the featured entrée-of-the-day, label it with a creative name next to the point of selection, serve it as the first entrée that is offered
Ensure there is a clear traffic pattern; use signs, floor decals, or rope lines when appropriate

To learn more about the basics of the SLM and tips on how to implement the SLM, visit the SLM of California web page .

For more information, visit the CDE Local School Wellness Policy web page.

Implement Innovative Breakfast Strategies

Implementing innovative or alternative breakfast strategies such as grab-and-go breakfasts, second chance breakfast, and breakfast in the classroom can positively impact school breakfast participation and thus have positive impacts on children’s academic and behavioral outcomes, and overall mental and physical health.

The CNAC Adequate Time to Eat Fact Sheet (PDF) notes the implementation of alternative breakfast after the bell programs as a good strategy to ensure student access to breakfast. Additionally, the CNAC developed a paper exploring the benefits of alternative breakfast strategies entitled Increasing Access to School Breakfast to Improve Student Outcomes (PDF).

Resources

Resource	Description
CDE Adequate Time to Eat Fact Sheet (PDF)	This fact sheet provides an overview of existing research and recommendations regarding what constitutes adequate time to eat, the influence it has on nutritional intake, and best practices schools can implement to ensure their students make the most of their meals.
CDE Child Nutrition Advisory Council (CNAC) Increasing Access to School Breakfast to Improve Student Outcomes (PDF)	This paper explores the benefits of alternative breakfast strategies.
No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices School Breakfast web page	This web page provides various resources to support school breakfast participation, including innovative breakfast strategies.
CDE Smarter Lunchroom Movement (SLM) web page	This web page details the low- and no-cost SLM techniques that can be used to improve meal service.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Time For Lunch web page	The CDC's Time for Lunch web page provides guidance on ensuring students have adequate time to eat during lunch periods. It emphasizes the importance of at least 20 minutes of seated time for students to enjoy their meals and socialize. The page also links to a research brief, Making Time for School Lunch, which can be downloaded as a PDF.
The National Library of Medicine School-level factors associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption among students in California middle and high schools - PubMed	This study examined how certain school-level factors affect fruit and vegetable consumption among middle and high school students in California. Analyzing data from over 5,400 students across 31 schools, researchers found that longer lunch periods, higher-quality fruit, access to salad bars, and involving students in food service decisions significantly increased produce intake. The findings highlight how improving school meal environments can support better nutrition and health for students.
School Nutrition Association How Long Does it Take Students to Eat Lunch? A Summary of Three Studies	This article discusses three studies to measure the average time required by kindergarten through grade twelve students to consume lunch. The average time for students to consume lunch was between 7 and 10 minutes. The authors also discuss other timed elements of the dining experience: socializing, service, and clean-up activities. School food service directors can use the information from these time studies to support reasonable lunch schedules that allow students at least 20 minutes to eat after they arrive at the table with their food.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact the California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division by phone at 800-952-5609 or by email at SNPInfo@cde.ca.gov.

Subscribe to the School Nutrition Program Mailing List.

Questions: Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

Last Reviewed: Tuesday, June 24, 2025