Snack Time

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2020

What time is your lunch?

We started snack time in the middle school this year, but only because our lunch period got moved back by an hour. Most kids at my school arrive by 7:30 (school breakfast served at 7:30) and lunch time is 12:30 (used to be 11:30). We were noticing total lack of focus due to hunger.

Snack MUST be health. Cannot be chips or candy. We give out whole fruit to the students that need a snack (oranges, apples, grapes, pears, etc).

Of course, they are also several kids that don't eat breakfast or don't like the school breakfast or lunch and therefore don't eat it.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2020

I want a snack...

But seriously, I know there are some students who need snack. And some who don't. And some for whom no matter what you say, parents will provide peanut-laced granola.

Good luck.

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2020

Our school tuition includes mid-morning snack and lunch for preschool to 5th grade. Usual snacks are fruit and yogurt, veggies and hummus, or whole wheat crackers and sun butter. I think it definitely helps the littles, and they get 10 minutes to eat the snack then back to lessons.

Middle and high schoolers get a 20 minute break around 11AM and can get a snack from the cafeteria or bring one from home. It's usually junk (chicken nuggets, giant muffins, flaming hot cheetos) and then I get 11:30AM stomach aches in my office.

guest464345 · Jan 15, 2020

Snacks (provided by health office) were a huge thing when I started, and I have scaled that WAY back. We have free breakfast and lunch for every single kid in the school; breakfast is at 7:30 and lunch is at 11:20, so I don't see a compelling reason for snacks in between.

I now give out snacks only a) when meds need to be taken with food, and the cafeteria's not open b) kids arrive late *with an excuse*, and the cafeteria's closed until lunch or c) blood sugar/diabetics.

The snacks that we used to provide - because of purchasing restrictions and cost - were all shelf-stable products loaded with sugar and/or salt and/or potential allergens like peanuts. I don't want that stuff in my office.

Interestingly, although I got a lot of pushback from teachers, there was very little complaint from the students. I'd hear, "You got a snack, miss?" and when I said no, they'd amble down to the student store and buy their own. Or shrug and wait until lunch.

Honestly I think that mostly the kids were boredom-eating. Plus, the constant parade of snack demands was destroying my ability to run the office....Can I get a snack? No, the chewy ones not the crunchy ones. Can I have another one for my friend? Don't you have any crackers? Etc.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Jan 15, 2020

snack is to be parent provided here from pk-4th grade. the fourth grade teachers phase it out mid year and fifth grade doesn't do it, as the middle schoolers eat early and don't have one. While I have a suggested snack list readily available on my website and for teachers to send home, I still see plenty of student who come in with cookies and fruit snacks (thinking that fruit snacks = fruit). I also see a LOT of kids who essentially bring a small lunch as their snack. I just try to fight the good fight and educate.

k1p1ssk, BSN, RN · Jan 15, 2020

Most of our classrooms do a snack around 10:15 or so either Parent provided or "breakfast after the bell" which is a piece of fruit and a shelf-stable carb (muffin or oatmeal bar). Most teachers ask for donations of "shelf-stable" snacks from room parents several times per year... something like pretzels or goldfish, and I get all the extra uneaten BAB snacks... Right now it seems to be all applesauce and at present, I am using it almost exclusively to help a kid swallow his daily med.

Guests · Jan 15, 2020

I think snack is way overdone. At my old school, kids were eating breakfast at school at arrival (7:30), then snack was at 9:30, lunch at 11:30, pm snack at 2 pm...literally eating every couple hours like infants, LOL. I tried to fight it. Apparently since our school is a free breakfast, free lunch, and snack program, the snacks were State Mandated...That PM snack was mandatory for Kindergarten because we had an extended school day and they did not get out until 4 pm. Too may snacks.

caliotter3 · Jan 15, 2020

Couldn’t help but think when reading this, “little diabetics in training “.

AdobeRN · Jan 15, 2020

Parent provided snack at my school also. Teachers decide what time they want to set aside for snack time. Snacks are not checked by staff. If there is a kid that has a nut allergy in class we will send a letter out requesting to send in nut free snacks but it just that ...a request, parents still can provide whatever they want for their kid. Even though we don't check snacks the teachers are pretty good about separating kids if there is an allergy involved - nobody is denied their snack.

WineRN · Jan 15, 2020

School breakfast is from 8:45-9:05 when school starts. Our lunches begin at 11am and every 25 mins a new grade level starts and we end the day at 4pm. When you factor in the snack times at each level, most grade levels are eating every 2.5-3 hours here in school. I think promoting this culture of constantly snacking even when you aren't hungry is a part of the obesity problem.

We talked about how if we do move to no more set snack times, we wouldn't restrict snacks if a child truly needed it for a medical need or even if they just requested it. Anyone who is hungry will still have access to food. I just really think most of my students are eating snack because it's snack time and not because they are hungry which is why when lunch comes they barely eat.

Thank you all for your responses!!!

scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 15, 2020

So my school gets a "fruit grant snack" each year and we give it out at the end of the day when they are lined up for dismissal, so they take it home to eat, they do not eat in class.

That being said, everyone gets free breakfast which is basically just cereal, milk, juice and a "snack" (crackers, goldfish, pretzels or cookies) included. that "snack" is to be used if they are hungry other than lunch times. Most teachers make students put it in their bags to go home if they dont eat it in the morning.

We are k-6, so kids know the breakfast time and lunch time and that is when there is food, if they are hungry other times, they can get a drink of water. That is what we do.