Stakeholder Generated Ideas for Alternative School Food Provision Models in Australia Using the Nominal Group Technique.

Brittany J Johnson,Dorota Zarnowiecki,Claire L Hutchinson,Rebecca K Golley

doi:10.3390/ijerph17217935

Brittany J Johnson, Dorota Zarnowiecki + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217935

Copy DOI

Abstract

Good nutrition is important for children’s learning, growth, and development, yet food intake during school hours does not align with recommendations. In Australia, most school children currently bring a packed lunch from home, but what if there was a different way? This project aimed to engage a diverse range of stakeholders to (1) generate, refine and prioritize ideas for novel models of food provision to Australian children within school hours, and (2) to determine and rank the potential barriers and facilitators to changing the school food provision system. This study used nominal group technique virtual workshops—three idea generation workshops (n = 21 participants) and one consensus workshop (n = 11 participants). School lunch prepared onsite was the top ranked food provision model option based on impact and achievability. Potential barriers (n = 26) and facilitators (n = 28) to changing the school food system were generated. The top ranked barrier and facilitator related to government support. This study highlights that there is an opportunity to explore partnerships and utilize existing skills and infrastructure to introduce a universal school-provided lunch model in Australia. The next steps should focus on building the business case capturing the social value of investing in school lunches, including considering parent-paid and subsidized options.

Highlights

Good nutrition during school years supports children’s health, growth, learning and development [1]
Most Australian children (~85 to 90%) bring a lunchbox packed at home [6,7], the contents of which have been similar for two decades
The prioritized facilitators highlight opportunities to mitigate barriers by exploring linking with existing organizations working in the school food or nutrition area, and having tailored approaches to school food provision models

Summary

Introduction

Good nutrition during school years supports children’s health, growth, learning and development [1]. Schools are a key health promotion setting to improve children’s health, including diet and activity patterns [4]. Despite this focus on schools as a setting to improve children’s nutrition, in Australia children’s intakes within school hours are not aligned with dietary guideline recommendations [5,6,7]. Analyses of primary-aged children’s school food intake from the National Nutrition Survey in 1995 identified low vegetable intake and an overrepresentation of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods in the school setting [7]. While not a nationally representative sample, a study of children’s lunchbox contents in 2017 found that energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods contributed

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion