School food policy at Dutch primary schools: room for improvement? Cross-sectional findings from the INPACT study

Abstract

BackgroundSchools can play an important role in the prevention of obesity, e.g. by providing an environment that stimulates healthy eating habits and by developing a food policy to provide such an environment. The effectiveness of a school food policy is affected by the content of the policy, its implementation and its support by parents, teachers and principals. The aim of this study is to detect opportunities to improve the school food policy and/or implementation at Dutch primary schools. Therefore, this study explores the school food policy and investigates schools’ (teachers and principals) and parents’ opinion on the school food policy.MethodsData on the schools’ perspective of the food policy was collected from principals and teachers by means of semi-structured interviews. In total 74 principals and 72 teachers from 83 Dutch primary schools were interviewed. Data on parental perceptions about the school food policy were based on a cross-sectional survey among 1,429 parents from the same schools.ResultsMost principals (87.1%) reported that their school had a written food policy; however in most cases the rules were not clearly defined. Most of the principals (87.8%) believed that their school paid sufficient attention to nutrition and health. Teachers and principals felt that parents were primarily responsible to encourage healthy eating habits among children, while 49.8% of the parents believed that it is also a responsibility of the school to foster healthy eating habits among children. Most parents reported that they appreciated the school food policy and comply with the food rules. Parents’ opinion on the enforcement of the school food policy varied: 28.1% believed that the school should enforce the policy more strongly, 32.1% was satisfied, and 39.8% had no opinion on this topic.ConclusionDutch primary schools could play a more important role in fostering healthy eating habits among children. The school food policy could be improved by clearly formulating food rules, simplifying supervision of the food rules, and defining how to enforce the food rules. In addition, the school food policy will only influence children’s dietary behaviour if both the school and the parents support the policy.

Barriers to Nutrition Promotion in Private Secondary Schools in Kolkata, India: Perspectives of Parents and Teachers

“…Consistent with our previous qualitative investigation [ 14 ], this study showed that Indian school authorities were less likely to entertain the engagement of parents, teachers, and students in school canteen operations as reported by half of the sample. Such limited involvement of key stakeholders is a significant barrier to implementation of healthy school food policies [ 23 , 27 ]. Unlike Indian schools, studies conducted in schools in Portugal [ 40 ], China [ 41 ] and other countries have shown that schools encourage the participation of all key stakeholders including parents, teaching staff, and pupils in their canteen operations [ 23 , 26 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

“…Parents of adolescents studying in year 9 and secondary school biology and home science (i.e., Home Economics) educators were invited to participate in the study. Both of these stakeholder groups were recruited because they are generally recognized as key and meaningful players in the school system [ 26 , 27 ]. Moreover, both these groups were likely to be well-informed about various nutrition promotion issues in Indian secondary schools [ 14 , 17 ].…”

“…Therefore, the current investigation aimed to understand the views of Indian parents and teachers about the possible barriers to nutrition promotion. The perspectives of parents and teachers are critical to this investigation as both these groups play an important role in the successful implementation of school-based nutrition programs [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Current Government Actions and Potential Policy Options for Reducing Obesity in Queensland Schools

“…The factors that facilitate implementation include the provision of information skills prior to implementation and the provision of training and assistance for canteen managers [ 80 ]. In the Netherlands, stakeholders including parents, teachers and principals take part in supporting the implementation of school food policy and fostering children’s healthy eating habits [ 81 ]. In the Canadian context, stakeholders including parents, non-governmental organizations, school personnel and private sectors are key parts of implementing and developing school policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity.…”

Groente en fruit tijdens het 10-uurtje op school : hoe kijken ouders hier tegen aan? : PPS Project: Groente en fruit op school vanzelfsprekend! : de rol van de ouders en school

“…Ook de school speelt een belangrijke rol. Sommige scholen hebben duidelijke regels omtrent eten en drinken en dit heeft invloed op wat de kinderen meenemen naar school (Van Ansem et al, 2013).…”