Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales
Abstract Objectives: To design and develop a new, innovative and valid School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool that is suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of school food and drink provision. Second, to analyse primary and secondary school menus and price lists pan-Wales to ascer...
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Public Health Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025000047/type/journal_article |
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| author | Alice Gilmour Ruth Fairchild |
| author_facet | Alice Gilmour Ruth Fairchild |
| author_sort | Alice Gilmour |
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Abstract
Objectives:
To design and develop a new, innovative and valid School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool that is suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of school food and drink provision. Second, to analyse primary and secondary school menus and price lists pan-Wales to ascertain their healthiness and whether free school meal (FSM) eligible pupils can afford to access healthy, nutritious food across the school day.
Design:
Codable items and categories of school food and drink provision were operationalised before the tool underwent iterative development and testing. Then, cross-sectional content analysis of publicly available documents detailing school food provision (i.e. menus and price lists) was done.
Setting:
Primary and secondary schools in Wales, UK.
Participants:
In total, 82 canteen menus were sourced online. This comprised local authority catering for primary (n 22) and secondary (n 19) schools and school-organised catering for primary (n 5) and secondary (n 36) schools.
Results:
Intercoder reliability testing found high agreeability between coders, demonstrating that the tool and data interpretation are reproducible and trustworthy. The FSM allowance is not wholly sufficient for all secondary school pupils to purchase a healthy meal from the school canteen. Moreover, the tool identified that oily fish and wholegrain provision were lacking across many menus.
Conclusions:
A valuable tool was created, useful for researchers and other health professionals (i.e. dietitians) who are required to analyse the healthiness of school food provision in line with the latest nutritional requirements. This study provides insight into the current school food and drink landscape pan-Wales.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-254065ceae9b4436b188e1b452343494 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1368-9800 1475-2727 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Public Health Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-254065ceae9b4436b188e1b4523434942025-02-07T10:04:43ZengCambridge University PressPublic Health Nutrition1368-98001475-27272025-01-012810.1017/S1368980025000047Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in WalesAlice Gilmour0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7602-9083Ruth Fairchild1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5251-7827School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK Abstract Objectives: To design and develop a new, innovative and valid School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool that is suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of school food and drink provision. Second, to analyse primary and secondary school menus and price lists pan-Wales to ascertain their healthiness and whether free school meal (FSM) eligible pupils can afford to access healthy, nutritious food across the school day. Design: Codable items and categories of school food and drink provision were operationalised before the tool underwent iterative development and testing. Then, cross-sectional content analysis of publicly available documents detailing school food provision (i.e. menus and price lists) was done. Setting: Primary and secondary schools in Wales, UK. Participants: In total, 82 canteen menus were sourced online. This comprised local authority catering for primary (n 22) and secondary (n 19) schools and school-organised catering for primary (n 5) and secondary (n 36) schools. Results: Intercoder reliability testing found high agreeability between coders, demonstrating that the tool and data interpretation are reproducible and trustworthy. The FSM allowance is not wholly sufficient for all secondary school pupils to purchase a healthy meal from the school canteen. Moreover, the tool identified that oily fish and wholegrain provision were lacking across many menus. Conclusions: A valuable tool was created, useful for researchers and other health professionals (i.e. dietitians) who are required to analyse the healthiness of school food provision in line with the latest nutritional requirements. This study provides insight into the current school food and drink landscape pan-Wales. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025000047/type/journal_articleDiet qualitySchool food standardsNutrition assessmentInstrument |
| spellingShingle | Alice Gilmour Ruth Fairchild Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales Public Health Nutrition Diet quality School food standards Nutrition assessment Instrument |
| title | Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales |
| title_full | Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales |
| title_fullStr | Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales |
| title_short | Developing and using a School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool to analyse school food provision in Wales |
| title_sort | developing and using a school menu healthiness assessment tool to analyse school food provision in wales |
| topic | Diet quality School food standards Nutrition assessment Instrument |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025000047/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alicegilmour developingandusingaschoolmenuhealthinessassessmenttooltoanalyseschoolfoodprovisioninwales AT ruthfairchild developingandusingaschoolmenuhealthinessassessmenttooltoanalyseschoolfoodprovisioninwales |