Parents demand longer lunch breaks for 'hangry' school kids

One B.C. mother is tired of picking up a hungry, grumpy kidat theend of the school day and is asking the province to mandate longer lunch breaks, so children have more time to eat.

Judie Schneider says she has heard fromother parents in her school district inRichmond thather son is not the only one coming home "hangry," with an uneaten lunch and a bad attitude, becauselunch breaks areare only 17minutes long.

"The kids are hungry from lunchtime onwards until the end of the day and that sets the tone,"she told the host ofCBC'sAll Point West.

Schneider wants the Ministry of Education and theB.C. Teachers' Federation to take action and has created an online petition demanding lunchtimes be extended to 35 minutesand be supervised by adults.

The petition has over 1,800 signatures.

'It's chaos'

Many schools in B.C., including in Richmond,have lunch breaks that are around 40minutes long, however half of that is mandatory outdoor playtime and students often have less than 20 minutes for a meal.

Schools in the Surrey school district for example give students a 45-minute break in the afternoonbut only15 minutes to eat lunch, and in North Vancouver, students have 20 minutesto eat.

This periodincludes coming in from playtime,retrieving lunch from their backpacks,washing their hands, and cleaning up after the meal.

The result, says Schneider, is wasted food, kids who can't focus on afternoon classes and who return home too exhausted to spend quality time with parents.

The vice president of the Richmond District Parents Association, Andrew Scallion, wrote on the petitionwebsite: "I have heard from many, many parents of their frustration with too short eating breaks.

"This is an extremely important issue."

Schneider said parents have also spoken to her about safety concerns, because lunchtimein her son's school is not supervised by adults.

Not a new issue

Schneider's petition pointsto research on school lunch breaks presented tothe New Westminster School Board in 2011 by Mary Ann Mortensen,former vice-president of the district's Parent Advisory Council.

That research suggested the district increase lunch breaksfrom15 minutesto 45 minutes.

The research was endorsed at the time byDr. John Blatherwick, the former chief medical officer for Vancouver Coastal Health.

Lunchtimes at New Westminster elementary schools are17 minutes.