A survey of nutrition education in secondary schools in Jamaica

Abstract

This study sought to obtain information on: (a) the extent of nutrition education in the curriculum, (b) the role of the school garden and school canteen in nutrition education, (c) attitudes of principals to nutrition education, (d) problems experienced by teachers in teaching nutrition, and (e) the proportion of students in secondary schools receiving tuition in nutrition-related subjects. Data were collected from principals, teachers, and students of Grades 9-11, using questionnaires, interviews, and through the examination of syllabuses of nutrition-related subjects. Results of the data analysis showed that: 1) many principals thought that nutrition education was sufficiently important to be included as a subject in the school curriculum; 2) the majority of schools indicated that over 5 percent of their students were receiving instruction in nutrition-related subjects; 3) many of the schools with gardens reported that the school garden project was used as a teaching aid in nutrition education; 4) students appeared to be prejudiced against nutritious foods prepared in the school canteen, largely because of ignorance; nutrition education within the various subject areas did not seem to influence their food choices as the courses were exam-oriented; 5) time spent on nutrition-related topics depended on the subject; home economics teachers spent the most time teaching nutrition topics, and biology teachers the least; 6) teachers identified topics which they would like to have included in the syllabus, as well as a desire to have local texts; 7) of the syllabuses of nutrition-related subjects analysed, the syllabus for Human and Social Biology had the nutrition component that was most appropriate for the needs of Jamaica; and 8) girls obtained higher scores than boys on the test, and students in grammar schools performed better than students in junior secondary schools