Assessing the School Food Environment in an Urban Area of North Karnataka
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: India has about 250 million school-going children, with most of their time spent at school. School food environment has contributed to children’s food choices and dietary habits. To reduce school children’s consumption of unhealthy, high fat sugar and salt foods (HFSS), the Government of India has issued regulations. However, the food environment remains unhealthy, with vendors flocking near schools to sell unhealthy foods and snacks. This study evaluated if schools adhere to the guidelines and the school food environment. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 80 government, government-aided, and private schools of Vijayapura city. The school principals or teachers in charge of food safety were enquired about their mid-day meal scheme and knowledge about food safety regulations as given by the Government of India. As the school food environment also includes food vendors nearby, a total of 17 food vendors within 50 m of the school premises were interviewed about their knowledge of the food safety standards guidelines with a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: About half of the schools surveyed were private, and the Mid-day meal scheme was not applicable to them. Mid-day meals were given as take-home rations in all 26 (32.5%) government schools and 13 (16.3%) government-aided schools. Of them, 7 (17.9%) experienced a shortage of food supply. Most of the principals, 61 (76.9%), had an awareness of the Food Safety and Standards regulations, but only 48 (60.0%) knew that HFSS foods could not be sold near the schools, and they restricted its sale around their school premises. Among the 17 food vendors interviewed, all of them sold HFSS foods, and a majority, 16 (94.1%), did not have any awareness regarding the restriction of HFSS sales around the school. Conclusion: Various determinants influence the school food environment; among them, food vendors around the schools play a crucial role. There is a lack of awareness regarding the regulations to restrict the sale of HFSS foods around schools, both among school authorities and vendors. This underlines the need to create awareness among the stakeholders and promote healthy schools.
Institutions: Shri BM Patil Medical College, BLDE (Deemed to be University)
Language: English
Subfield: Speech and Hearing
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4411920901