The healthy eating policy and school lunches : how much do parents know?

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to find out whether parents of eight-year old children were aware of the 'Whole School Approach to a Healthy Lifestyle: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity’ policy (2015). This study investigated how much parents knew about the policy and if they utilised the principles in the policy when preparing school lunches. Moreover, it also investigated whether or not the schools have successfully informed the parents about the principles of the policy and what strategies were used by the schools to do so.. The research’s design was of a quantitative nature. Data was collected through questionnaires which were given to parents of Year 4 students attending State, Church and Independent schools. In all, nine schools participated in this research. Based on this research, it was concluded that although most of the parents were aware of the 'Whole School Approach to a Healthy Lifestyle: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity’ policy (2015), the percentage of the parents who used the policy as a guide when preparing school lunches were significantly less than those who were aware of the policy. It was also discovered that most of the schools did introduce the policy to the parents at the beginning of their child’s scholastic journey, but that little to no reinforcement of the latter was evident. As a result of these findings, it is suggested that more hands-on activities related to the policy are held for parents, offering guidance in connection with the preparation of healthy school lunches.