Abstract
BackgroundAlthough the mandate of recreational facilities is to enhance well-being, many offer foods inconsistent with recommendations for healthy eating. Little is known regarding recreational facility food environments and how they might be improved, as few studies exist. The Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth (ANGCY) are intended to ensure access to healthy food choices in schools, childcare and recreational facilities. This study investigated awareness, adoption and implementation of the ANGCY among recreational facilities in Alberta, Canada, one year following their release.MethodsA cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted from June - December, 2009 (n = 151) with managers of publicly funded recreational facilities that served food. The questionnaire included 10 closed and 7 open ended questions to assess the organizational priority for healthy eating, awareness, adoption and implementation of the ANGCY. Chi-squared tests examined quantitative variables, while qualitative data were analysed using directed content analysis. Greenhalgh's model of diffusion of complex innovations within health service organizations constituted the theoretical framework for the study.ResultsOne half of respondents had heard of the ANGCY, however their knowledge of them was limited. Although 51% of facilities had made changes to improve the nutritional quality of foods offered in the past year, only a small fraction (11%) of these changes were motivated by the ANGCY. At the time of the survey, 14% of facilities had adopted the ANGCY and 6% had implemented them. Barriers to adoption and implementation were primarily related to perceived negative attributes of the ANGCY, the inner (organizational) context, and negative feedback received during the implementation process. Managers strongly perceived that implementing nutrition guidelines would limit their profit-making ability.ConclusionsIf fully adopted and implemented, the ANGCY have the potential to make a significant and sustained contribution to improving the recreational facility food environment, however one year following their release, awareness, adoption and implementation of the ANGCY remained low. A mandated policy approach could offer an efficacious, cost-effective means of improving the food environment within recreational facilities.
Highlights
The mandate of recreational facilities is to enhance well-being, many offer foods inconsistent with recommendations for healthy eating
Twelve percent of the approximately 1275 publicly funded recreational facilities in Alberta participated in the telephone survey, provincial officials and the Alberta Parks and Recreation Association estimate that only approximately 1020 recreational facilities in the province serve food (i.e. 80% of all publicly funded recreational facilities), the true participation rate may have been closer to 15%
Unless we go to extreme prices that’s what’s going to happen”. 3) No barriers Notably, some managers who had implemented the ANGCY could not identify any barriers to implementing them. These findings demonstrate that awareness (50%), adoption (14%), and implementation (6%) of the ANGCY were low among this sample of recreational facilities approximately one year following their release
Summary
The mandate of recreational facilities is to enhance well-being, many offer foods inconsistent with recommendations for healthy eating. The Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth (ANGCY) are intended to ensure access to healthy food choices in schools, childcare and recreational facilities. School-based studies, by contrast, have shown that healthy food environments foster good dietary behaviours [4,5,6,7] and appropriate body weights among children [5,6] and as such, there is significant momentum across North America to improve school nutrition environments. Overestimate time spent in school, which in reality accounts for 20% of children’s waking hours over the course of a year [8] That this figure leaves 80% of time unaccounted for suggests a need to focus on obesity prevention in other settings [8]. A predominance of healthy food environments throughout communities will help to reinforce healthy eating behaviours (i.e. eating patterns consistent with recommendations in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide) learned in school, ensure that intake of less healthful foods (i.e. foods with a high calorie, fat, sugar and/or sodium content, and a low micronutrient content) is not displaced from school to community food environments, and maintain and accrue further health benefits
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
