Department of Nursing Science, University of Fort Hare, Ring Road, Alice 5701, South Africa.
Sefako Makgatho Health Science University, Ga-Rankuwa 0208, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 5;17(11):4038. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17114038.
Overweight and obesity are growing concerns in adolescents, particularly in females in South Africa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the food and nutrition environment in terms of government policy programs, nutrition education provided, and foods sold at secondary schools in the Eastern Cape province. Sixteen schools and grade 8-12 learners ( = 1360) were randomly selected from three health districts comprising poor disadvantaged communities. Based on age and sex specific body mass index (BMI) cut-off values, 13.3% of males and 5.5% of females were underweight, while 9.9% of males and 36.1% of females were overweight or obese. The main food items purchased at school were unhealthy energy-dense items such as fried flour dough balls, chocolates, candies, and crisps/chips. Nutrition knowledge scores based on the South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) were poor for 52% to 23.4% learners in Grades 8 to 12, respectively. Female learners generally had significantly higher nutrition knowledge scores compared to their male counterparts ( = 0.016). Questions poorly answered by more than 60% of learners, included the number of fruit and vegetable portions required daily, food to eat when overweight, foods containing fiber, and importance of legumes. It was noted that the majority of teachers who taught nutrition had no formal nutrition training and their responses to knowledge questions were poor indicating that they were not familiar with the FBDGs, which are part of the curriculum. Nutrition assessment as part of the was done on few learners. Overall however, despite some challenges the government national school meal program provided meals daily to 96% of learners. In general, the school food and nutrition environment was not conducive for promoting healthy eating.
超重和肥胖是青少年面临的日益严重的问题，尤其是南非的女性。本研究旨在评估政府政策计划、提供的营养教育以及东开普省中学销售的食品，从这几个方面评估食品和营养环境。从三个卫生区中随机选择了 16 所学校和 8-12 年级的学生（=1360）。根据年龄和性别特定的身体质量指数（BMI）切点值，13.3%的男性和 5.5%的女性体重不足，而 9.9%的男性和 36.1%的女性超重或肥胖。在学校购买的主要食物是不健康的高热量食物，如炸面团球、巧克力、糖果和薯片/薯条。根据南非以食物为基础的饮食指南（FBDG），8 至 12 年级的学生营养知识得分分别为 52%至 23.4%，得分较低。与男学生相比，女学生的营养知识得分普遍显著更高（=0.016）。超过 60%的学生错误回答的问题包括每日所需的水果和蔬菜份量、超重时应吃的食物、含纤维的食物以及豆类的重要性。值得注意的是，教授营养的大多数教师没有接受过正式的营养培训，他们对知识问题的回答也很差，这表明他们不熟悉 FBDG，而这些是课程的一部分。很少有学生接受营养评估。然而，总体而言，尽管存在一些挑战，但政府的国家学校供餐计划每天为 96%的学生提供膳食。总的来说，学校的食品和营养环境不利于促进健康饮食。
