Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practices among school children: a cross-sectional study based in the Colombo educational zone, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study focuses on assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of food safety among school children in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, based on a questionnaire survey conducted from September to October 2020, with a sample of 380 teenagers from a selection of schools in the Colombo Educational Zone, Sri Lanka. It reports that the mean food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice scores of the participants were 59.949 ± 0.833, 84.336 ± 0.448, and 79.597 ± 0.616 (mean ± SE) respectively and hypothesises that the food safety practice score and the attitude score of school children both significantly increase relative to their food safety knowledge score ( rp = 0.205, p < 0.001 and rp = 0.359, p < 0.001). A multiple linear regression analysis of the data establishes that the food safety knowledge score of the male participants is higher than that of the female participants and that poor food handling practices are common among the males in the population. The results further demonstrate a correlation between the individual schoolchild’s academic performance, the educational background of his/her parents, and his/her knowledge of food safety. The present study reveals that the school children in Colombo Education Zone maintain an average level of food safety knowledge and satisfactory levels of food safety attitudes and practices. Thus, the authors suggest that school children should be provided with appropriate education and training to enhance their current level of food safety knowledge, especially about proper temperature control during food processing and food handling.