Making time to eat: A review of state policies and guidance on school mealtime duration

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Advocates across the U.S. are working to ensure that all children have access to no-cost, nutritious meals at school. Nine states have implemented healthy school meals for all policies, and in 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued updated school nutrition standards that make school meals healthier than ever before. However, it does not matter how accessible or nutritious school meals are if students do not have time to eat them. Short lunch periods are linked to significantly lower consumption of school meals and increased plate waste. To promote nutrition and reduce food waste, experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommend students receive, at minimum, 20 minutes of seated time at lunch or a 30-minute lunch period total, and 10 minutes of seated time at breakfast, known as sufficient time to eat (TTE). Currently, no federal policies requiring minimum meal-period durations for schools exist, but minimum mealtimes are sometimes mandated at the state or district level.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) conducted a scan to establish the prevalence of state-level policies and guidance on sufficient TTE in schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). Data was collected via a three-step process: a state agency website and Google search, email outreach to state agencies, and a LexisNexis search. The content of the policies and guidelines obtained in this search were further analyzed to determine alignment with CDC’s recommendations for TTE.

Overall, 12 jurisdictions (24%) had either a policy or guidance that aligned with CDC TTE recommendations for at least one meal. Twenty-nine percent (15/51) of jurisdictions have an existing TTE policy and 13 of those also have accompanying agency-issued guidance. Thirty-one percent (16/51) of jurisdictions lack a policy but have issued guidance about TTE.

Of the 15 jurisdictions with a TTE policy, four (D.C., South Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia) have language that aligns with the CDC’s quantitative recommendations for ensuring that students have enough TTE at lunch. Three state TTE policies (Florida, Virginia, and West Virginia) include language that aligns with CDC’s recommendations for TTE at breakfast.

Of the 29 jurisdictions with guidance, 10 have language that aligns with the CDC’s quantitative recommendations for ensuring that students have enough TTE at lunch (D.C., Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia). Eight states’ (Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia) guidance documents align with CDC’s recommendations for TTE at breakfast, and two states (Alabama and Florida) included quantitative recommendations for unspecified “meal(s)”.

We urge USDA, state legislatures, state education departments, local education agencies, and school districts to consider TTE policies to ensure that the maximum benefits of school meal programs to students can be realized.