Institute for Health Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, 1747 W Roosevelt Rd M/C 275, Chicago, IL, 60608.
College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1040 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL, 60607.
J Sch Health. 2020 Oct;90(10):779-786. doi: 10.1111/josh.12943. Epub 2020 Aug 20.
Few studies examine why rural public schools have weaker policies and practices related to school nutrition environments compared to their urban counterparts. It is important to understand this disparity because federal school meal standards aim for children to access health-promoting nutrition environments. In this study, we identify challenges and opportunities for the implementation of school meal standards in rural high schools.
We interviewed 38 rural school professionals from 22 high schools across 7 states. School professionals included food service directors, principals, school nurses, and teachers. Team coding in Atlas.ti Qualitative Data Analysis software v8 and principles of comparative analysis were employed to generate themes related to challenges and opportunities.
Overall, school professionals described improvements with implementation experiences and student acceptance over time. Key challenges included the negative influences of home and community food environments and limited staff size and capacity. Key opportunities involved joining co-ops to enhance purchasing power, leveraging state technical assistance, and forming external partnerships.
This study offers insights from a broad range of rural school professionals' implementation experiences. The findings can inform governments and technical assistance agencies working with rural schools and school districts to facilitate implementation and sustainability of initiatives.
与城市学校相比，农村公立学校在与学校营养环境相关的政策和实践方面较弱，这方面的研究很少。了解这种差异很重要，因为联邦学校膳食标准旨在让儿童获得促进健康的营养环境。在这项研究中，我们确定了农村高中实施学校膳食标准所面临的挑战和机遇。
我们采访了来自 7 个州的 22 所高中的 38 名农村学校专业人员。学校专业人员包括餐饮主任、校长、学校护士和教师。使用 Atlas.ti 定性数据分析软件 v8 进行团队编码和比较分析原则，以生成与挑战和机遇相关的主题。
总的来说，学校专业人员描述了随着时间的推移，实施经验和学生接受程度的提高。主要挑战包括家庭和社区食品环境的负面影响，以及员工人数和能力有限。主要机遇包括加入合作社以提高购买力、利用州技术援助以及建立外部伙伴关系。
本研究提供了广泛的农村学校专业人员实施经验的见解。这些发现可以为与农村学校和学区合作的政府和技术援助机构提供信息，以促进倡议的实施和可持续性。
