Kids & eating at lunch

Do you monitor how much your kids eat at lunch on school days?

I can easily monitor what my daughter is eating. They have the kids return all containers and bags into their lunch bags. This way the parents can see what's been left and what's been consumed. Easy for her school because it's a small school. One class (averaging 16 kids) per grade level up to the 5th grade.

But what do big schools do? I remember lunchtime being chaotic. Everyone piling into the cafeteria within about 5 minutes. Lunch bags pulled out. Milk being distributed. The kids getting hot lunches getting in the LONG line (oh how I envied them). I remember talking and chatting and eating. How much did I eat though? I don't know because I threw away my paperbag each time.

There are schools that're trying to get their kids to eat more at lunch. How? By letting the kids have recess before they eat. You know the draw of the playground. I guess some kids were barely eating and using as much time to play as possible. Studies were done and now some schools are testing out the new routine. Play first. Eat last.

Here are some excerpts from an article:

"Prior to the start of this school year, when the lunch period preceded recess, ...there was a lot of food waste, as children tossed a good portion of their meal to get to the playground faster. Coming straight into the classroom from the heat, ...it took 20 to 30 minutes for teachers to calm them down and get them into school mode again."

"When they come in, they are more focused and ready, not wound up."

"From conversations I hear, they're eating more of their lunch. I don't hear complaints that they're hungry."

"Parents have noticed the children are eating more of their lunches, and there are less students feeling sick."

I guess having recess first gets out all their extra energy that's been pent up. They expel that energy and realize they are hungry. They'll sit and eat. And drink. Because (of course) kids play hard and need to rehydrate themselves. Just the act of eating before returning to class helps them settle down. Ready to concentrate for an afternoon of instruction. It's such an easy change. Simple. Why wasn't it done before?

What do you think about this business of playing first and eating last?