Measurement Methods Used to Assess the School Food Environment: A Systematic Review

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.

Disparities in the Healthfulness of School Food Environments and the Nutritional Quality of School Lunches

“…After reviewing all available variables related to the school food environment, 17 binary (yes/no) variables were selected and then grouped into three domains that comprised the school food environment: the presence and sources of competitive foods, school food policies and programs, and nutrition promotion and outreach activities. The selection of these variables was informed by existing literature that has explored the healthfulness of school food environments [ 2 ].…”

“…Children in the United States spend a significant portion of their waking hours at school and consume more than one-third of their total daily calorie intake while there [ 1 ]. Research has shown that schools play an integral role in shaping the dietary behaviors of children [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. As a result, policymakers and practitioners have viewed the school food environment as a critical setting for influencing children’s eating behaviors and reducing childhood obesity [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…The school food environment includes both the availability of food items and the school food policies that regulate their accessibility and aim to promote healthy food choices [ 2 , 14 ]. Most schools provide students with access to meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), both administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).…”

‘It’s Hard to Make Good Choices and It Costs More’: Adolescents’ Perception of the External School Food Environment

“…The surge in eating out-of-home has seen a parallel increase in research exploring the type and impact of food environments in and around homes, schools and workplaces [ 4 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. The food environment is defined as “the collective physical, economic, policy and sociocultural surroundings, opportunities and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status” [ 16 ].…”

Capturing the school food environment in primary schools

“…Optimising school food environments has been identified as a key component of successful school-based nutrition interventions (1)(2) . It is not clear, however, what school food environments look like, as no tools are available for measuring this as a whole-school food approach (3) . This research aimed to develop tools for measuring whole-school food environments in primary schools and utilise these to capture the status of primary school food environments in Northern Ireland.…”