The purpose of this thesis was to examine the association between reverse recess, defined as recess before lunch, and school plate waste in a San Diego elementary school. In addition, differences in plate waste by food types and grade levels were also examined. Plate waste from post lunch recess and reverse recess was compared. Data was collected over two consecutive days in 2017 and 2018. During the 2017-2018 School Year, 99.2% of the school’s student population was Hispanic or Latino and 72% were eligible for free/reducedprice meals. Of the 2180 school lunch trays studied, 1023 observations occurred before reverse recess was implemented and 1157 observations occurred after implementation. On average, students with reverse recess wasted 14% less of their lunch compared to students with recess after lunch. When disaggregating plate waste by food type, entree waste decreased by 16%, while beverage waste decreased by 20% after implementation. Vegetable and fruit waste did not significantly change. There were no differences in mean plate waste compared to kindergarten. This is inconsistent with past studies, which noted that older students wasted less than their younger counterparts. Future studies should include a diverse sample to better generalize the results, as well as collect data over a longer time period to reduce the influence of variability in students’ food preferences.
