How teachers perceive healthy eating and physical activity of primary school children

Abstract

Raising healthy individuals is a sine qua non of education. Healthy eating plays an importantrole in the development of children. Childhood is a key period for acquiring and sustaining lifelonghealthy eating and physical activity habits. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to evaluate thehealthy eating and physical activity behaviors of primary school children from the perspective ofteachers. We use Bronfenbrenner's social ecological model as our conceptual framework to take intoaccount the multi-layered structure of the issue at hand, examining the chronosystem, policies,institutions, interpersonal relationships and individual factors. Based on maximum diversity sampling, atotal of 11 teachers were interviewed from six Turkish schools at different socio-economic levels. Thedata were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis methods. Attributes related to consumersociety impact the implications of school policies. Even with mandated changes at the local and nationalpolicy levels to increase the availability of healthy food at school canteens, children have easy access toand an appetite for unhealthy foods. Policy decisions are closely related to school conditions as well asparental, peers and teacher profiles. The present study underscores the multi-dimensional nature ofschool health-promoting policies with a holistic perspective.