Abstract
School lunches are important as a setting for food education (Syokuiku), but only a few reports have focused on factors contributing to leftovers. While a short duration of eating (hereafter, “eating time") is assumed to be correlated with a high leftover rate, no studies have addressed this relationship. Accordingly, we measured the amount of school lunch leftovers and eating time over 22 days and surveyed 844 children in a total of 25 classes at an elementary school. The average leftover rate was 4 . 3 ± 3 . 7%. Eating time(including cleaning-up time)showed a positive, significant correlation with leftover rate and a negative correlation with the proportion of children who always finish their lunch. Among children who do not finish their lunch, the proportion of those who felt that the lunch period is short was significantly higher than those who always finish their lunch. This suggests that children who finish lunch eat quickly, and classes with more of these children likely have a shorter eating time. Our findings suggest that a short lunch period may be a factor underlying why some children cannot finish their lunch.
