Evaluation of implementation of a healthy food and drink supply strategy throughout the whole school environment in Queensland state schools, Australia

Abstract

The results demonstrated that food supply interventions to promote nutrition across all domains of the school environment can be implemented successfully.

Stakeholder perceptions of a school food policy ten years on

“…Consistent with the methodology of the initial evaluation and similar evaluations conducted elsewhere (9)(10)(11) , an online survey was administered to members of multiple stakeholder groups that play vital roles in policy implementation in the school environment: school principals, teachers, canteen managers, and presidents of parents and citizens (P&C) committees. These four groups have direct involvement in policy implementation.…”

“…While school food policies have been introduced in many countries (8) , relatively few have been independently and/or comprehensively assessed. Work to date suggests that such policies can be appropriately implemented by food-service providers (9)(10)(11)(12) and that policies that limit the supply of unhealthy 'discretionary' foods in schools can be associated with lower levels of student obesity (13,14) . Such evidence is critical for providing policy makers with the justification they require to introduce comprehensive school food policies (15,16) .…”

The vocational education setting for health promotion: a survey of students’ health risk behaviours and preferences for help

“…These program choices represent practical solutions to aid positive decision making, to improve the uptake of healthy lifestyle behaviours, and to make health conscious behaviour more affordable. Previous research has shown that similar health programs such as the promotion of healthy food choices in a university food hall setting 36 and the restriction of access to junk food in primary and secondary schooling settings 37 are well accepted and effective in improving the health behaviours of the target groups. The most popular quit smoking strategies were own willpower, other, quitting with a friend and hypnosis, suggesting that there is a lack of understanding about the most effective, evidence-based strategies that support successful cessation among this population.…”

Validity of four measures in assessing school canteen menu compliance with state‐based healthy canteen policy

“…Despite the popularity of such policies in Australia, only a small number of studies have assessed whether schools adequately implement these policies. These studies have found variable implementation ranging from 0-97%, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] which may be due to the use of different methods of measuring policy implementation across the studies. Studies that use principal or canteen manager self-report typically report a higher compliance rate (61-97%) 17,19 compared with studies where menu audits were undertaken (0-62%).…”

“…These studies have found variable implementation ranging from 0-97%, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] which may be due to the use of different methods of measuring policy implementation across the studies. Studies that use principal or canteen manager self-report typically report a higher compliance rate (61-97%) 17,19 compared with studies where menu audits were undertaken (0-62%). 14,16,18 One study that undertook observations of food items within four schools found that none was compliant with state policy guidelines.…”