What is better for a child: To eat before or after recess? You probably don’t think it makes a difference but surprisingly it does. Research has shown that children waste less food when recess is before lunch, and a new study has found that children also eat healthier when operating on that same schedule. Students who purchase school lunches are federally mandated to take a fruit or vegetable with their meal—students don’t have to eat it but they have to take it. Researchers discovered that students who had recess before their meal ate 54 percent more of the fruits or vegetables they took, and the number of kids who selected a fruit or vegetable on their own jumped 45 percent. While most schools have recess after lunch you can call you school board and ask them to make the change.