Abstract
Children consume approximately half of their total daily amount of energy at school. Foods consumed are often energy-dense, nutrient-poor. The school food environment represents an effective setting to influence children’s food choices when dietary habits are established and continue to track into adulthood. The aim of this review was to: (1) group methods used for assessing the school food environment according to four food environment dimensions: Physical, economic, socio-cultural and policy and (2) assess the quality of the methods according to four criteria: Comprehensiveness, relevance, generalizability and feasibility. Three databases were searched, and studies were used to assess food and beverages provided at school canteens, tuck shops or cafeterias were included. The review identified 38 global studies (including 49 methods of measuring the food environment). The physical environment was the primary focus for 47% of articles, aspects of policy environment was assessed by 37% articles and a small number of studies assessed the economic (8%) and socio cultural (8%) environment. Three methods were rated ‘high’ quality and seven methods received ‘medium’ quality ratings. The review revealed there are no standardized methods used to measure the school food environment. Robust methods to monitor the school food environment across a range of diverse country contexts is required to provide an understanding of obesogenic school environments.
Highlights
The International Network for Food and Obesity non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) defines the food environment as the “collective physical, economic, sociocultural and policy surroundings and opportunities and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status” [1]
The following search criteria were used in this review: (i) studies published in English in peer reviewed studies, (ii) human studies, (iii) studies from any country and (iv) studies which specified the methods or tools used to assess food and/or beverage items provided at school canteens, tuck shops or cafeterias
Studies that included food environment assessment methods that rated as high quality included a school management questionnaire of the food environment (guided by the existing Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework [33]), school environment assessments and the collection of food sales data from school food outlets
Summary
The International Network for Food and Obesity non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) defines the food environment as the “collective physical, economic, sociocultural and policy surroundings and opportunities and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status” [1]. This broad frame-work definition is useful to identify the structural drivers of food acquisition, consumption and nutrient profiles and may encompass a number of measurable key dimensions (availability, accessibility, affordability and desirability of foods) to guide empirical research [2]. Public Health 2020, 17, 1623; doi:10.3390/ijerph17051623 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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