Food safety knowledge, attitude, and practices among school children: a cross-sectional study based in the Colombo educational zone, Sri Lanka
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The study focuses on assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of food safety among school children in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, based on a questionnaire survey conducted from September to October 2020, with a sample of 380 teenagers from a selection of schools in the Colombo Educational Zone, Sri Lanka. It reports that the mean food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice scores of the participants were 59.949 ± 0.833, 84.336 ± 0.448, and 79.597 ± 0.616 (mean ± SE) respectively and hypothesises that the food safety practice score and the attitude score of school children both significantly increase relative to their food safety knowledge score ( rp = 0.205, p < 0.001 and rp = 0.359, p < 0.001). A multiple linear regression analysis of the data establishes that the food safety knowledge score of the male participants is higher than that of the female participants and that poor food handling practices are common among the males in the population. The results further demonstrate a correlation between the individual schoolchild’s academic performance, the educational background of his/her parents, and his/her knowledge of food safety. The present study reveals that the school children in Colombo Education Zone maintain an average level of food safety knowledge and satisfactory levels of food safety attitudes and practices. Thus, the authors suggest that school children should be provided with appropriate education and training to enhance their current level of food safety knowledge, especially about proper temperature control during food processing and food handling.
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Ten studies relied solely on self-reporting.
“In contrast, 10 studies relied solely on self-reporting [49,51,53,54,57,58,65,70,71,72].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Seven studies focused on university students, two on school children, four on street food consumers, five on meat consumers, one on vegetable consumers, and one on milk consumers.
“Seven studies focused on university students [49,53,54,58,60,65,72], two studies were on school children [70,71], four studies on street food consumers [57,62,67,68], five studies on meat consumers [50,56,59,64,66], and one study each on vegetable [48] and milk consumers [61].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Another study found that Sri Lankan schoolchildren performed well in areas such as personal hygiene and purchasing practices but showed moderate understanding of cross-contamination control.
“Another study [71] found that Sri Lankan schoolchildren performed well in areas such as personal hygiene and purchasing practices but showed moderate understanding of cross-contamination control.”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Other studies described knowledge as average or mixed.
“Several studies reported good or satisfactory knowledge levels [49,50,51,52,57,58,60,63,68], while other studies described knowledge as average or mixed [47,55,61,62,67,71].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
One study reported generally satisfactory food safety practices.
“In contrast, one study reported generally satisfactory food safety practices [71], and four studies reported good practices [47,49,58,70].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Overall, findings on attitudes were mixed: one study reported predominantly poor attitudes, three reported average attitudes, one reported generally positive attitudes, and two showed mixed results.
“Overall, findings were mixed: one study reported predominantly poor attitudes [52], three reported average attitudes [62,67,71], one reported generally positive attitudes [68], and two showed mixed results [55,63].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Only four studies comprehensively examined all three components-knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
“Only four studies [52,55,63,71] comprehensively examined all three components—knowledge, attitudes, and practices”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Some studies reported significant associations between gender and food safety knowledge and practices.
“Some reported significant associations with food safety knowledge and practices [49,53,54,64,71]”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
While three studies found adequate and satisfactory attitudes, one identified poor attitudes, and other studies revealed mixed results.
“While three studies [62,67,71] found adequate and satisfactory attitudes, one [52] identified poor attitudes, and other studies [55,63] revealed mixed results.”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
Among the 15 studies which assessed practices, the majority found that practices were poor among consumers, while only limited studies reported good, satisfactory, or very good practices.
“Among the 15 studies (e.g., [53,54,58]) which assessed practices, the majority found that practices were poor among consumers, while only limited studies reported good [47,58,70], satisfactory [71], or very good practices [49].”
From Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of Urban Consumers in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs): A Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [71]
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- Authors
- Wanniarachchi, P. C., Abeysundara, P., & Peiris, H. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Sri Jayewardenepura (LK)
- Corresponding author
- Peiris, Hashan Savinda
- Venue
- Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Sri Lanka Journals Online
- Published
- 2023-04-27
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 241-253
- ISSN
- 0258-9710 (ISSN-L)
- 2478-1169
- OpenAlex
- W4367341314
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 0.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Safety and Hygiene
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology
- Keywords
- food safety knowledge, food safety attitudes, food safety practices, elementary school students, adolescents, food handling, gender differences, parental education, academic performance, food temperature control, food hygiene education, Colombo
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