The feasibility of implementing food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary-school curriculum

Abstract

Objective: To explore the perceptions of educators from the Western Cape Province about the feasibility of implementing South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) in the national curriculum of primary schools. Design: Combined quantitative and qualitative methods. We report on the quantitative component. Setting: Twelve public primary schools of different socio-economic status in three education districts of the Western Cape: Metro Central, Metro East and Cape Winelands. Subjects: Educators (n 256) participated in the self-completed questionnaire survey. Results: Educators assessed that FBDG were appropriate to South African schoolchildren (94%), could be used as an education tool (97%) and fill gaps in the current curriculum about healthy dietary habits (91%). Besides Life Orientation, FBDG could be taught in other learning areas from grades 3 to 7 (9-13 years old). Important barriers to implementing FBDG in the curriculum were educators' workload (61%), insufficient time (46%), learners' disadvantaged background (43%) and educators' lack of knowledge (33%). Other approaches to teach children about FBDG included linking these to the National School Nutrition Programme (82%), school tuck shops (79%), parent meetings (75%), school nutrition policy (73%) and school assembly (57%). Educators in high-income schools perceived that learners' lifestyle was significantly worse (P , 0?001) and that tuck shops and the school assembly were the best means to teach pupils about FBDG (P , 0?001 and P , 0?05). Conclusions: Implementing FBDG in the national school curriculum is seen as important together with optimizing the school physical environment. Key factors required for successful implementation in the curriculum are sufficient educational materials, adequate time allocation and appropriate educator training. Keywords Primary-school curriculum Nutrition education Dietary guidelines South AfricaImplementing food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) in the school curriculum is recommended worldwide as a cost-effective intervention in preventing the development of non-communicable diseases and the consequences of malnutrition (1)(2)(3) . Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes were high on the agenda at the WHO Global Forum and the UN meeting in 2011. These diseases caused 36 million deaths in 2008 and were the leading causes of mortality globally. A third of these deaths occurred before age 60 years, mainly in developing countries (4) . The WHO projects that by 2030, noncommunicable diseases will account for 77% of deaths worldwide (5) .A major factor contributing to non-communicable diseases is the increasing rate of overweight and obesity. In the South African Demographic and Health Survey, the Department of Health found that nearly two-thirds of women and half of men older than 35 years were overweight or obese in 2003 (6) . Rising overweight and obesity rates among schoolchildren are of concern according to a number of studies which show the c...

Challenges to implementing the food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary school curriculum: a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of principals and curriculum advisors

“…23 Similar findings were reported from studies conducted elsewhere in South Africa. 24 There is no clarity in the literature on the level of awareness regarding FBDG in the general population of countries that have implemented such guidelines.…”

“…The quantitative component of the study reporting on data collected from educators at 12 public primary schools from different socioeconomic strata has been published elsewhere. 23 This paper focuses on the qualitative arm of the study comprising of interviews with principals at these schools and selected curriculum advisors.…”

Nutrition education practices of primary school teachers in a resource-constrained community in Gauteng, South Africa

“…About 62% of the teachers surveyed indicated lack of instructional materials. This finding is consistent with other studies in South Africa, where lack of quality instructional materials hindered the effective teaching of nutrition (Nguyen et al 2013; Oldewage-Theron and Egal 2012).…”

“…This finding was confirmed in previous studies where teachers admitted inadequacy in teaching nutrition and expressed their need for nutrition training despite many years of teaching experience (Kupolati, Gericke, and MacIntyre 2015;Nguyen et al 2013). In-service training is a useful resource to sharpen the skills of personnel for better performance.…”

“…In our study, only about half of the teachers had received training to teach nutrition. It has been reported that capacity and skills to teach nutrition are often lacking among teachers who have the responsibility to teach nutrition (FAO 2005;Nguyen et al 2013). The need for nutrition training for primary school teachers was established in a study that looked into the influence of nutrition and physical activity knowledge on the weight status of teachers.…”