IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i11p4038-d367883.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Food and Nutrition Environment at Secondary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as Reported by Learners

Author

Listed:
  • Alice P. Okeyo

    (Department of Nursing Science, University of Fort Hare, Ring Road, Alice 5701, South Africa)

  • Eunice Seekoe

    (Sefako Makgatho Health Science University, Ga-Rankuwa 0208, South Africa)

  • Anniza de Villiers

    (Research Capacity Development Division, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town 7501, South Africa)

  • Mieke Faber

    (Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town 7501, South Africa
    Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa)

  • Johanna H. Nel

    (Department of Logistics, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa)

  • Nelia P. Steyn

    (Division Human Nutrition, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town; UCT Medical campus, Anzio Road, Anatomy Building, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa)

Abstract

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 ( N = 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 ( p = 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 Integrated School Health Program 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Alice P. Okeyo & Eunice Seekoe & Anniza de Villiers & Mieke Faber & Johanna H. Nel & Nelia P. Steyn, 2020. "The Food and Nutrition Environment at Secondary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as Reported by Learners," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-18, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4038-:d:367883
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4038/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4038/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nelia P. Steyn & Johanna H. Nel & Sonia Malczyk & Linda Drummond & Marjanne Senekal, 2020. "Provincial Dietary Intake Study (PDIS): Energy and Macronutrient Intakes of Children in a Representative/Random Sample of 1–<10-Year-Old Children in Two Economically Active and Urbanized Provinces in ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-37, March.
    2. Alwyn S. Todd & Steven J. Street & Jenny Ziviani & Nuala M. Byrne & Andrew P. Hills, 2015. "Overweight and Obese Adolescent Girls: The Importance of Promoting Sensible Eating and Activity Behaviors from the Start of the Adolescent Period," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-24, February.
    3. Reddy, S.P. & Resnicow, K. & James, S. & Funani, I.N. & Kambaran, N.S. & Omardien, R.G. & Masuka, P. & Sewpaul, R. & Vaughan, R.D. & Mbewu, A., 2012. "Rapid increases in overweight and obesity among South African adolescents: Comparison of data from the South African national youth risk behaviour survey in 2002 and 2008," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(2), pages 262-268.
    4. Kudzai Chinyoka, 2014. "Impact of Poor Nutrition on the Academic Performance of Grade Seven learners: A Case of Zimbabwe," International Journal of Learning and Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(3), pages 73-84, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zandile June-Rose Mchiza, 2022. "Diet Therapy and Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-7, July.
    2. Joy Mauti & Isabel Mank & Jan-Walter De Neve & Guillaume Alfred Gyengani & Paul-André Somé & Sachin Shinde & Wafaie Fawzi & Till Bärnighausen & Alain Vandormael, 2021. "The Food and Health Environment in Junior Secondary Schools in Urban Burkina Faso: A Cross-Sectional Study of Administrators, Food Vendors and Early Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elias M. A. Militao & Elsa M. Salvador & Olalekan A. Uthman & Stig Vinberg & Gloria Macassa, 2022. "Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes Other than Malnutrition in Southern Africa: A Descriptive Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Stella K Muthuri & Claire E Francis & Lucy-Joy M Wachira & Allana G LeBlanc & Margaret Sampson & Vincent O Onywera & Mark S Tremblay, 2014. "Evidence of an Overweight/Obesity Transition among School-Aged Children and Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-26, March.
    3. Alice P. Okeyo & Eunice Seekoe & Anniza de Villiers & Mieke Faber & Johanna H. Nel & Nelia P. Steyn, 2020. "Dietary Practices and Adolescent Obesity in Secondary School Learners at Disadvantaged Schools in South Africa: Urban–Rural and Gender Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Johanna H. Nel & Nelia P. Steyn, 2022. "The Nutrition Transition and the Double Burden of Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan African Countries: How Do These Countries Compare with the Recommended LANCET COMMISSION Global Diet?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Sibusiso Cyprian Nomatshila & Sikhumbuzo A. Mabunda & Thandi Puoane & Teke R. Apalata, 2022. "Prevalence of Obesity and Associated Risk Factors among Children and Adolescents in the Eastern Cape Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Emmanuel Bonney & Gillian Ferguson & Bouwien Smits-Engelsman, 2018. "Relationship between Body Mass Index, Cardiorespiratory and Musculoskeletal Fitness among South African Adolescent Girls," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-12, May.
    7. Ahmmed, Sakil & Uddin, Mahtab, 2022. "Exploring the disparities in learning outcomes among the primary school students of Bangladesh," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    8. Markus Gerber & Christin Lang & Johanna Beckmann & Rosa du Randt & Kurt Z. Long & Ivan Müller & Madeleine Nienaber & Nicole Probst-Hensch & Peter Steinmann & Uwe Pühse & Jürg Utzinger & Siphesihle Nqw, 2022. "Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, Weight Status, and Body Composition among South African Primary Schoolchildren," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4038-:d:367883. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.