Food and nutrition education opportunities within Australian primary schools

• DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daz132
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02T20:08:51Z
• Authors: Penelope Love; Alison Booth; Claire Margerison; Caryl Nowson; Carley Grimes
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 03 medical and health sciences; Schools; 0302 clinical medicine; 4. Education; Australia; Food Services; Humans; Curriculum; Child; Health Education

Abstract Schools are regarded as a key setting for obesity prevention, providing an opportunity to reach a large number of children, frequently and over a prolonged period, through formal and informal opportunities to learn about health behaviours. However, the low value placed on health versus academic achievement is a barrier to effective implementation of food and nutrition (F&N) education. This study used a qualitative exploratory approach to explore the views of teachers and key health and education sector stakeholders regarding opportunities for F&N education within the Australian primary school setting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore this topic from the perspectives of state-level coordination and development through to local-level implementation and support within the Australian primary school context. Only 2.6% of the Victorian Curriculum related to F&N education, taught through two (of seven) learning outcomes: Health and Physical Education, and Technologies. While stakeholders considered child health a priority, and schools an ideal setting for F&N education, barriers included a lack of strategic policy alignment, limited leadership and coordination, a ‘crowded curriculum’ and poor availability of shelf-ready resources with explicit curriculum links. A cross-curriculum approach was considered essential for F&N education to become embedded as a core component of the curriculum.