Schools ‘loosen’ healthy eating policies as 'treat days' help catering companies make a profit

The research, published in Health Promotion International, is based on a study of six Irish secondary schools in Dublin and a rural area. The study includes a Deis school.

It involved seven peer-led focus groups of 71 students, as well as interviews with 27 teachers and five secondary-school principals.

Food in the schools is provided by catering companies and can be bought directly by students.

According to the study: “Some canteens had started out with ambitious healthy-eating plans or menus aligned to healthy-eating policies, but because of poor uptake and low profits, the types of food available changed over time.

Principals in all schools reported ‘loosening’ healthy-eating policies or guidelines in some way in order for these companies to make a profit.

The study found that, at in three of the six schools, the catering company has recently invested in catering facilities so as to provide a broader range of food, but four of the six schools allow a treat day — such as chips or muffins — “for the purpose of profits for the catering company”.

The study found “divergent views” between students, teachers, and principals on how to address the issue.

“Teachers and principals saw a role for more education modules and students believed environmental infrastructures, practices, and policies needed to be addressed to improve behaviours,” said the study, adding that, “in addition to education, the social and environmental aspects of food choice and eating at school deserve attention in future research and policy”.

Principals and teachers said the proximity of local food outlets and the preferences of secondary-school students are barriers to implementing strict healthy eating policies.

Students said social and environmental aspects of eating at lunch, such as spending time with friends and sharing food, influence whether to leave the school campus to eat — yet researchers said these factors were not considered by teachers and principals.

The research was led by Sarah Browne, lecturer MSc in the clinical nutrition and dietetics programme at the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science in University College Dublin, who said that it is important not to blame schools for what is a complex issue.

Ms Browne said schools are “burdened with healthy-eating guidelines”, but on a practical level, they have to use canteens that often are not meeting those standards.

The study found that finance, convenience, and time are major factors in deciding on the types of food available in schools, with Ms Browne saying canteens are often congested, with students having little time to consume their food.

The study, entitled entitled ‘We know what we should eat but we don’t...’: A qualitative study in Irish secondary schools, found:

“Some canteens had started out with ambitious healthy-eating plans or menus aligned to healthy-eating policies, but because of poor uptake and low profits, the types of food available changed over time. If that is the major barrier to implementing healthy food in schools we need to address that.”

The research was conducted through the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy & Community Health, Dublin City University.

Principals and teachers think that say more healthy-eating education through Junior Cert health and wellness modules is would be important, while students feel strongly that food environments need to change to reflect healthy-eating education and policy, adding that “compared to local food outlets, schools had a responsibility to students welfare that they were not fulfilling”.