Teachers’ perspectives on nutrition education in boys’ public high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Nutrition education in school may positively affect students' eating behaviour. Teachers need to be empowered to teach nutrition, but no studies have investigated teachers' views on this topic in Saudi Arabia. Aims: This study investigated the perspective of teachers on nutrition education and their confidence in teaching it in boys' public high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: In 2015, 80 boys' public high schools were randomly selected from four areas of Riyadh, and 80 teachers (biological sciences, physical education and health education teachers) were interviewed using a validated questionnaire. A Fisher exact test was run to test the relationship between teachers' perspective and confidence level, and their subject taught. Results: Almost all the teachers (98%) agreed that the health education curriculum should be taught as a core subject for high-school students. Most of the teachers (89%) were interested in teaching nutrition. However, 64% indicated that they did not have adequate nutrition curricular materials and 70% considered that they had not received adequate training on nutrition education. However, 89% were confident that their students would be interested in nutrition and that such education would change their dietary behaviour. Science and health education teachers were more interested in teaching nutrition and were more confident in their ability to do so than physical education teachers (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Most of the teachers were interested in teaching nutrition but barriers existed, such as lack of training and teaching materials, which affected teachers' confidence in delivering nutrition education in their curricula.

What is the level of nutrition literacy of Saudi adolescents? A national wide exploratory cross-sectional study

“…More than half the students (55.8%) also stated that they were not taught any classes about nutrition or healthy diets. Also of interest, 64% of teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia lacked access to adequate nutrition curricular materials, and 70% were not trained adequately in nutrition education ( 35 ).…”

“…There was a 3 fold and 2 fold increase in the chance of nutritional illiteracy among those who were underweight and overweight, respectively in the current study. There is a lack of consistency among the studies that have looked at how BMI and nutrition literacy are associated ( 35 , 36 ), and the results may vary according to age and gender ( 34 , 42 , 44 , 47 – 49 ). Overall, those in their late adolescence stage (17–19 years old) and females were more prevalent in the current study.…”

Conhecimento e percepção de autoeficácia e eficácia coletiva de professores sobre o Guia Alimentar

“…Nas escolas, é possível educar através de conhecimentos advindos de diferentes fontes de saber, dentre eles os dos professores, que têm papel relevante a partir da capacidade de incentivar o comportamento e atitude saudáveis dos discentes. 7 Pesquisa realizada em 2015 por Aldubayan, 20 na Arábia Saudita, verificou as perspectivas de professores sobre educação nutricional nas escolas públicas de ensino médio, para meninos. A amostra foi composta por professores das áreas de Ciências Biológicas, Educação Física e Educação em Saúde.…”

“…[17][18][19] Trata-se de uma estratégia de ensino-apredizagem de essência mais ativa, baseando-se em processos educativos centrados no protagonismo do indivíduo, na colaboração interpares e no estabelecimento de metas. 20 As crenças que os indivíduos compartilham podem também impactar em sua responsabilidade coletiva nas mudanças de hábitos 20 e, por isso, o professor tem papel importante na promoção da alimentação saudável no contexto escolar. Devido à relevância de os docentes terem embasamento teórico para desenvolver a educação nutricional em sala de aula, que pode ser adquirido através do conteúdo do Guia Alimentar, torna-se importante avaliar o nível de conhecimento e autoconfiança dos mesmos quanto aos aspectos envolvidos na temática da alimentação saudável.…”