School nurse Susan Wilson noticed a troubling trend forming at Hollifield Station Elementary School.
Each afternoon, as many as a dozen students would come to her office complaining of stomachaches.
Wilson realized the students were scarfing down their lunches to run outside to play, causing stomach cramps that meant missing class or not finishing their lunches.
“We used to see tons of kids come in with stomachaches. Their food would never get digested,” Wilson said.
The rash of stomachaches prompted Wilson and other Ellicott City school officials to rethink when the students ate lunch.
Scheduling recess before lunch this year eliminated the aches and gained more full and focused students, school officials said.
Hollifield Station Elementary, which was recently applauded by the Howard County Health Department for its health practices, is among a small number of schools in the area holding recess before lunch for all students ? and perhaps one of the only ones tackling the change as a schoolwide health and wellness initiative.
Nationwide, 10 percent of elementary schools held recess before lunch in 2006, said Alice Jo Rainville, a professor at Eastern Michigan University and a member of the School Nutrition Association.
In Maryland, schools officials don?t track how many students have recess before lunch, so the exact number is unclear.
For example, some of Carroll County?s 22 elementary schools hold recess before lunch as a way of balancing multiple lunch shifts with afternoon classes, said Curt Schnorr, director of elementary education.
In Anne Arundel, playtime is usually after lunch, but schools require students to stay in the cafeteria for a set amount of time so they won?t rush meals, said Cathy Herbert, director of school performance.
No Baltimore City schools hold recess first, officials said.
“It?s not that common, but it?s common sense,” said Donna Dennis, a Hollifield Station Elementary parent and registered dietitian who helped push for the change.
Fifth-grader Sara Kirchner, 11, said she and her friends prefer the change. “I like it better, because I am tempted to play outside, so then I can sit down and relax and eat lunch,” she said.
Schools have traditionally held lunch before recess, said Hollifield Station Elementary Principal Glenn Heisey, and some principals are reluctant to shuffle schedules.
“I have tried to share this with other principals, but there?s that immediate resistance to change,” he said.
Hollifield Station Elementary teachers are reaping the benefits of the change.
“Stomachaches ? they aren?t happening anymore,” Wilson said.
Staff Writer Kelsey Volkmann contributed to this report.
