A Cross‐sectional Survey of Intermediate School Teachers: Predictive Factors Associated with Teachers’ Classroom Food‐related Practices

Abstract

In conjunction with a Coordinated School Health Program in a rural county in the southern Appalachian region of East Tennessee, researchers surveyed a convenience sample of 59 intermediate school teachers to determine their normative classroom food-related practices and predictive factors associated with these practices. Data analyses showed that many teachers used candy, food, and soft drinks as rewards, while fewer used more healthy food alternatives. Regression analysis showed that the number of years teaching at the current school was predictive of less frequently reported use of classroom food-related practices that supported healthful eating among students, while a less supportive attitude regarding the school environment was predictive of more frequent reported use of less healthful classroom food-related practices. In order to help combat childhood overweight in the US, local education agencies have been mandated to develop wellness policies, which subsequently should help improve school nutrition environments and ultimately improve child health. However, to make sustainable changes in school environments, school administrators, health professionals, and advocates for nutrition integrity in schools must understand that teachers are a critical link between the school nutrition environment, wellness policies, and students via their normative classroom food-related practices.