Students should have more time to eat during lunch. Studies have shown that the average amount of time students have to eat their lunch is 13 minutes, I think this is unacceptable.  These problems arise all throughout the United States and there are many simple solutions, I understand that these issues are mostly evident in public schools with limited budgets but you’ll find that these solutions are surprisingly costly efficient.

After waiting in the long line that stretches throughout the cafeteria, kids have about thirteen minutes to supply themselves with half their daily energy. There are many simple solutions to these problems that for some reason schools haven’t done. Schools that have a lunch line that takes longer than five minutes should and could simply add another cashier, which could double the time kids have to eat their lunch. This would limit the amount of people in the cafeteria at a time, decreasing the length of the lines at lunch, and improving the seating.

A study at Harvard University recorded that with lunch periods less than twenty minutes, students consumed 10% less milk, 12% less vegetables, 23% less fruits and 13% less of their entree. This means that kids only eat what they want to eat and not what they actually need to eat. This leads to kids being hungry and unfocused during classes, which impacts the school as a whole. I think people are generally unaware on how much being hungry impacts student’s attention span and their grades as a whole. I conclude that the average 13 minute lunch time is unacceptably short, and that schools should find ways to increase the efficiency that kids receive food, or at least increase the time kids have to eat.