Abstract
Good health, food and nutrition are essential for children to have a positive start in life and achieve their full potential. Childhood obesity is a major public health issue. In 2013, 29% Queensland school-aged children were overweight or obese. Most children are (1) not consuming adequate vegetables or fruit; (2) consuming excess inappropriate, discretionary food and drinks. Improving nutritional quality of food and drinks children consume is an important element in tackling childhood obesity and preventing chronic disease in later life. The Queensland Government's Smart Choices Healthy Food and Drink Supply Strategy for schools, launched in 2007, sought to improve the nutritional value of food and drinks in the school environment. In 2015, Nutrition Australia Queensland (NAQ) Nutrition was engaged to undertake an active research project to support 50 Queensland school canteens to identify barriers and enablers for them to better implement the Strategy. Canteen menus were assessed against the Smart Choices Strategy, where food and drinks are classified into categories according to their nutritional value – GREEN (‘have plenty’), AMBER (‘select carefully’), and RED (‘occasional’). This identified that on average the canteen menus were 48% GREEN; 44% AMBER; 5% RED, with 74% of schools having at least one RED item on their menu (most commonly in the snacks and drinks section). Schools are receiving ongoing, individualised support over the project duration to improve menu choices. Post-intervention evaluation, in early 2016, will identify how these schools have progressed in improving the nutritional value of their menus.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 79-79 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Journal | Nutrition and Dietetics |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | S1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 29 Apr 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | Dietitians Association of Australia 33rd National Conference - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 19 May 2016 → 21 May 2016 https://www.da2024.com.au/ |