CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 8School Health and Nursing EducationSustainability in Higher EducationEnvironmental and sustainability education

Food, nutrition and sustainability education in Australian primary schools: a cross-sectional analysis of teacher perspectives and practices

Open access
Kempler, Jessica V, Margerison, Claire, Nanayakkara, Janandani, Booth, Alison·2024·Archives of Public Health
DOI 10.1186/s13690-024-01449-4PMC PMC11583557
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background: Healthy eating patterns from sustainable food systems are crucial for population and planetary health. Primary schools are opportune settings for teaching children about food, nutrition and sustainability (FNS) though little is known about the delivery of FNS education in this sector. This study aimed to analyse current approaches to FNS education in Australian primary schools. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey with closed- and open-ended questions collected data about (i) teacher perceptions and attributes regarding FNS education; (ii) FNS teaching practices; and (iii) factors influencing FNS education. Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA including descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses to test for associations between categorical variables. Qualitative content and thematic analyses of open-ended questions were conducted using NVivo 14. Results: Participants were 413 Australian primary school teachers. Teachers considered FNS education as equally important to most curriculum subjects, though frequency of FNS education was low. Less than a third of teachers were trained in FNS education, had access to funding for FNS-related activities or were from schools with policies about including FNS education in the curriculum. There was a significant association between frequency of FNS education and teacher training, access to funding and presence of FNS curriculum policies (all p < 0.001). Teachers who were trained to teach nutrition, food skills or food sustainability (all p < 0.05) were more likely to teach this as both stand-alone and cross-curricular subjects. Teachers described personal factors (workload, stress, scope of practice) that influenced their FNS teaching practices, as well as factors related to students’ families (family responsibility for FNS education, family food practices, family engagement in FNS activities), the curriculum (overcrowding, prioritisation, access to resources) and the broader school environment (time, facilities, funding, training). Conclusions: Strengthening the position of FNS education in the primary school sector is an important next step for public health research, policy and practice. Researchers and policy makers should explore future opportunities for training, funding and policy approaches that prioritise FNS within the primary school curriculum and in everyday teaching practice.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/s13690-024-01449-4

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 49

  1. [1]Fanzo J, Rudie C, Sigman I, Grinspoon S, Benton TG, Brown ME, et al. Sustainable food systems and nutrition in the 21st century: a report from the 22nd annual Harvard Nutrition Obesity Symposium. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022;115(1):18–33. 34523669 PMC8755053 · DOI
  2. [2]Williams J, Buoncristiano M, Nardone P, Rito AI, Spinelli A, Hejgaard T et al. A Snapshot of European Children’s Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). Nutrients. 2020;12(8). PMC7468747 32824588
  3. [4]Liu J, Rehm CD, Onopa J, Mozaffarian D. Trends in diet quality among youth in the United States, 1999–2016. JAMA. 2020;323(12):1161–74. 32207798 PMC7093765 · DOI
  4. [6]Poore J, Nemecek T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science. 2018;360(6392):987–92. 29853680 · DOI · Paper page
  5. [7]Rosenzweig C, Mbow C, Barioni L, Benton T, Herrero M, Krishnapillai M, et al. Climate change responses benefit from a global food system approach. Nat Food. 2020;1:94–7. 37128000 · DOI
  6. [8]Vidgen HA, Gallegos D. Defining food literacy and its components. Appetite. 2014;76:50–9. 24462490 · DOI
  7. [9]Cullen T, Hatch J, Martin W, Higgins JW, Sheppard R. Food literacy: definition and framework for action. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2015;76(3):140–5. 26280794 · DOI
  8. [10]Truman E, Lane D, Elliott C. Defining food literacy: a scoping review. Appetite. 2017;116:365–71. 28487244 · DOI
  9. [11]Kelly RK, Nash R. Food literacy interventions in elementary schools: a systematic scoping review. J Sch Health. 2021;91(8):660–9. 34137459 · DOI
  10. [12]Movassagh EZ, Baxter-Jones ADG, Kontulainen S, Whiting SJ, Vatanparast H. Tracking dietary patterns over 20 years from childhood through adolescence into young adulthood: the Saskatchewan pediatric bone mineral accrual study. Nutrients. 2017;9(9). PMC5622750 28885565
  11. [13]Craigie AM, Lake AA, Kelly SA, Adamson AJ, Mathers JC. Tracking of obesity-related behaviours from childhood to adulthood: a systematic review. Maturitas. 2011;70(3):266–84. 21920682 · DOI · Paper page
  12. [16]Colley P, Myer B, Seabrook J, Gilliland J. The impact of Canadian school food programs on children’s nutrition and health: a systematic review. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2019;80(2):79–86. 30430855 · DOI · Paper page
  13. [17]Cotton W, Dudley D, Peralta L, Werkhoven T. The effect of teacher-delivered nutrition education programs on elementary-aged students: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Prev Med Rep. 2020;20:101178. 32944494 PMC7481566 · DOI
  14. [18]Brown EC, Buchan DS, Baker JS, Wyatt FB, Bocalini DS, Kilgore L. A systematised review of primary school whole class child obesity interventions: effectiveness, characteristics, and strategies. Biomed Res Int. 2016;2016:4902714. 27668254 PMC5030395 · DOI
  15. [19]Dudley DA, Cotton WG, Peralta LR. Teaching approaches and strategies that promote healthy eating in primary school children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activity. 2015;12:28. PMC4416340 25889098 · DOI
  16. [20]O’Brien KM, Barnes C, Yoong S, Campbell E, Wyse R, Delaney T et al. School-based nutrition interventions in children aged 6 to 18 years: an umbrella review of systematic reviews. Nutrients. 2021;13(11). PMC8618558 34836368
  17. [22]Price C, Cohen D, Pribis P, Cerami J. Nutrition education and body mass index in grades K-12: a systematic review. J Sch Health. 2017;87(9):715–20. 28766320 · DOI · Paper page
  18. [28]Lister-Sharp D, Chapman S, Stewart-Brown S, Sowden A. Health promoting schools and health promotion in schools: two systematic reviews. Health Technol Assess. 1999;3(22). 10683593
  19. [29]Clarke J, Fletcher B, Lancashire E, Pallan M, Adab P. The views of stakeholders on the role of the primary school in preventing childhood obesity: a qualitative systematic review. Obes Rev. 2013;14(12):975–88. 23848939 · DOI · Paper page
  20. [30]Love P, Booth A, Margerison C, Nowson C, Grimes C. Food and nutrition education opportunities within Australian primary schools. Health Promot Int. 2020;35(6):1291–301. 31951256 · DOI
  21. [31]Clarke JL, Pallan MJ, Lancashire ER, Adab P. Obesity prevention in English primary schools: headteacher perspectives. Health Promot Int. 2017;32(3):490–9. 26692390
  22. [36]Li F, Yuan Y, Xu X, Chen J, Li J, He G, Chen B. Nutrition education practices of health teachers from Shanghai K-12 schools: the current status, barriers and willingness to teach. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;17(1). PMC6982291 31877677
  23. [37]Jones AM, Zidenberg-Cherr S. Exploring nutrition education resources and barriers, and nutrition knowledge in teachers in California. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2015;47(2):162–9. 25257845 · DOI
  24. [38]Kupolati MD, Gericke GJ, MacIntyre UE, Ferreira R, Fraser W, Toit PD. Nutrition education practices of primary school teachers in a resource-constrained community in Gauteng. South Afr Ecol Food Nutr. 2016;55(3):279–91. 27064924 · DOI
  25. [39]Guglielmo D, Chantaprasopsuk S, Kay C, Hyde E, Stewart C, Gazmararian. Nutrition policies, practices, and environments in low-income Georgia elementary schools, United States, 2015–2017. J Sch Health. 2020;90(4):278–85. 31997370 · DOI
  26. [40]Watts SO, Piñero DJ, Alter MM, Lancaster KJ. An Assessment of Nutrition Education in selected counties in New York State elementary schools (kindergarten through fifth grade). J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012;44(6):474–80. 23010012 · DOI
  27. [41]de Vlieger N, Riley N, Miller A, Collins CE, Bucher T. Nutrition education in the Australian New South Wales primary school curriculum: an exploration of time allocation, translation and attitudes in a sample of teachers. Health Promotion J Australia. 2019;30(1):94–101. 30054958 · DOI
  28. [42]Metos JM, Sarnoff K, Jordan KC. Teachers’ perceived and desired roles in nutrition education. J Sch Health. 2019;89(1):68–76. 30506698 · DOI
  29. [43]Aydin G, Margerison C, Worsley A, Booth A. Essential food and nutrition knowledge and skills for primary school children: Australian parents’ opinions. Health Educ. 2021;122(4):424–39. · DOI
  30. [46]Serdar CC, Cihan M, Yücel D, Serdar MA. Sample size, power and effect size revisited: simplified and practical approaches in pre-clinical, clinical and laboratory studies. Biochemia Med. 2021;31(1):010502. PMC7745163 33380887
  31. [47]Black JL, Velazquez CE, Ahmadi N, Chapman GE, Carten S, Edward J, et al. Sustainability and public health nutrition at school: assessing the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in Vancouver schools. Public Health Nutr. 2015;18(13):2379–91. 25771940 PMC10271479 · DOI
  32. [48]Carter MA, Swinburn B. Measuring the ‘obesogenic’ food environment in New Zealand primary schools. Health Promot Int. 2004;19(1):15–20. 14976168 · DOI
  33. [49]Lien N, van Stralen MM, Androutsos O, Bere E, Fernández-Alvira JM, Jan N, et al. The school nutrition environment and its association with soft drink intakes in seven countries across Europe - the ENERGY project. Health Place. 2014;30:28–35. 25190681 · DOI
  34. [50]Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG. Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. J Biomed Inform. 2009;42(2):377–81. 18929686 PMC2700030 · DOI · Paper page
  35. [51]Sandelowski M. Whatever happened to qualitative description? Res Nurs Health. 2000;23(4):334–40. 10940958 · DOI
  36. [56]Kempler JV, Love P, Bolton KA, Rozman M, Spence AC. Exploring the Use of a web-based Menu Planning Tool in Childcare services: qualitative cross-sectional survey study. JMIR Formative Res. 2022;6(7):e35553. PMC9345012 35849438 · DOI
  37. [58]Kann L, Telljohann SK, Wooley SF. Health education: results from the School Health policies and Programs Study 2006. J Sch Health. 2007;77(8):408–34. 17908101 · DOI · Paper page
  38. [59]Chrisman M, Patel S, Alonzo R. Barriers to and facilitators of using MyPlate nutritional guidelines in K-12 teachers and principals. Health Educ J. 2019;79(2):152–65. · DOI
  39. [60]Hall E, Chai W, Albrecht JA. A qualitative phenomenological exploration of teachers’ experience with nutrition education. Am J Health Educ. 2016;47(3):136–48. 27226814 PMC4867867 · DOI
  40. [61]Perera T, Frei S, Frei B, Wong S, Bobe G. Improving nutrition education in U.S. elementary schools: challenges and opportunities. J Educ Pract. 2015;6:30.
  41. [62]Quaidoo E, Ohemeng A, Kushitor MK, Antwi J. Nutrition education incorporation into mainstream primary school curriculum in Ghana: stakeholders’ sources of nutrition information and perceived barriers. PLoS ONE. 2021;17(1). PMC8735612 34990476
  42. [63]Carroll A, Forrest K, Sanders-O’Connor E, Flynn L, Bower JM, Fynes-Clinton S, et al. Teacher stress and burnout in Australia: examining the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors. Soc Psychol Educ. 2022;25(2):441–69. 35233183 PMC8874312 · DOI · Paper page
  43. [64]Carraway-Stage V, Hovland J, Showers C, Díaz S, Duffrin MW. Food-based science curriculum yields gains in nutrition knowledge. J Sch Health. 2015;85(4):231–40. 25731197 PMC7489299 · DOI
  44. [65]Hovland JA, Carraway-Stage VG, Cela A, Collins C, Díaz SR, Collins A, Duffrin MW. Food-based science curriculum increases 4th graders multidisciplinary science knowledge. J Food Sci. 2013;12(4):81–6. 25152539 PMC4138830
  45. [67]Patino-Fernandez AM, Hernandez J, Villa M, Delamater A. School-Based Health Promotion intervention: parent and School Staff perspectives. J Sch Health. 2013;83(11):763–70. 24138346 · DOI
  46. [68]Power TG, Bindler RC, Goetz S, Daratha KB. Obesity Prevention in early adolescence: student, parent, and teacher views. J Sch Health. 2010;80(1):13–9. 20051086 · DOI
  47. [70]Elmas C, Arslan P. Effect of nutrition education received by teachers on primary school students’ nutrition knowledge. Nutr Res Pract. 2020;14(5):532–9. 33029292 PMC7520566 · DOI
  48. [71]Katsagoni CN, Apostolou A, Georgoulis M, Psarra G, Bathrellou E, Filippou C, et al. Schoolteachers’ nutrition knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes before and after an e-Learning program. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2019;51(9):1088–98. 31402288 · DOI
  49. [72]Kupolati MD, MacIntyre UE, Gericke GJ, Becker P. A contextual nutrition education program improves nutrition knowledge and attitudes of South African teachers and learners. Front Public Health. 2019;7:258. 31620415 PMC6759471 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kempler, J. V., Margerison, C., Nanayakkara, J., & Booth, A.
Affiliations
Deakin University (AU)
Corresponding author
Kempler, Jessica V
ORCID
Venue
Archives of Public Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2024-11-22
Volume
82
Issue
1
Pages
222-222
ISSN
  • 0778-7367 (ISSN-L)
  • 2049-3258
DOI
10.1186/s13690-024-01449-4
PMC
PMC11583557
OpenAlex
W4404611060
Cited by
8
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1
FWCI
4.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2024-12-16)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Archives of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Deakin University
  • Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › School Health and Nursing Education
  • Social Sciences › Education › Sustainability in Higher Education
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental and sustainability education
Keywords
primary school teachers, teacher perceptions, teaching practice, teacher professional development, school finance, curriculum policy, cross-curricular teaching, household food practices, family involvement, teacher workload, Australian primary schools

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review