Promotion of Healthy Eating in Spanish High Schools

Abstract

<jats:p>Obesity and overweight are both public health problems, affecting increasingly younger populations. Promoting healthy eating should be a must in schools. Therefore, getting to know the eating habits of a population group as sensitive as adolescents and whether their schools apply an appropriate policy for their nutrition should be a priority. Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover whether the Secondary Education High Schools of Huelva and its province could be considered as centres that promote a healthy diet. A cross-sectional descriptive study was developed using a questionnaire comprising 39 indicators that were evaluated on 5 previously piloted subcategories of validated information. Data were obtained through a questionnaire presented to 200 key informants with four different profiles. The highest score for promoting healthy eating in the centres was related to the subcategory “School Curriculum”, whereas the lowest means were those related to the Community category. No practical activities such as outings or cooking workshops were carried out. The low participation in activities promoting healthy eating habits, research and health training must be highlighted. Little attention was paid to compliance and monitoring of school cafeterias. Most of the studied Secondary Education High Schools did not meet the requisites to be considered promoters of healthy eating habits. Only three of the studied centres can be considered healthy-eating promoters. Institutional commitment is needed to favour the intersectorality of the different agents implied and to provide teaching units and other teaching profiles with the necessary resources, training, and tools to achieve integral and protective teaching activities aimed at promoting students’ healthy eating habits.</jats:p>

Breakfast intake and associated factors and barriers among tertiary institution students in the Western Region, Ghana

“…It is essential to determine who is more likely to miss breakfast and the causes of this behaviour [ 17 ]. According to prior research, kids with lower social and economic positions, less-educated parents, and parents who have divorced are more likely than other students to miss breakfast [ 16 , 18 ]. Investigations revealed that students' lack of time in the morning, diminished appetite, and worries about their weight and appearance were the top causes of breakfast skipping [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Attitude towards the Promotion of Healthy Eating among Secondary School Teachers—Construction and Validation of a Questionnaire

“…Nutrition is one of the most relevant aspects of childhood and adolescent care due to its consequences on the overall development of the person [ 4 , 5 ]. Knowing the eating habits of adolescents and finding out whether secondary schools apply an adequate policy should be a priority [ 2 , 6 ].…”

“…Several studies show that content on healthy eating in secondary school curricula is scarce, and if it exists at all, it plays a negligible part in the curriculum [ 6 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In addition to few practical activities in schools, different degrees of non-compliance or ignorance of regulations on this issue have also been identified [ 15 ].…”

“…In addition to few practical activities in schools, different degrees of non-compliance or ignorance of regulations on this issue have also been identified [ 15 ]. It is therefore essential to train secondary school teachers in the promotion of healthy eating among students, including the study and improvement of their attitudes towards these activities [ 6 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

“…A previous study showed that health promotion activities in secondary schools in Huelva, are scarce and have little involvement of teachers, who are usually more focused on strictly academic activities [ 6 , 22 ]. Most often, activities are developed from the curriculum that appears in the school materials, with little capacity for adaptation and innovation.…”