Best Strategies to Improve School-leavers’ Knowledge of Nutrition and Food Systems: Views from Experts in Iran

Background: The research to date does not present an articulated approach to ensure nutrition and food systems education is systematically implemented within schools. This paper aimed to investigate food experts’ views of the best strategies to improve school-leavers’ knowledge of nutrition and food systems. Methods: In this qualitative study, 28 Iranian food and nutrition experts from four major provinces (Tehran, Fars, Isfahan, and Gilan) were selected and agreed to be interviewed. Required data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face, or telephone interviews and were analyzed thematically using NVivo. Results: The experts’ suggested strategies to improve Iranian school-leavers’ knowledge of nutrition and food systems fell into three key themes: Policy, education processes, and supportive environments. Together they formed an overarching theme of a multileveled system approach for transferring knowledge. Conclusions: Development of a scaffolded education program could assist curriculum developers and policy makers to assess and update current nutrition and food systems education programs in schools. Insights gained about education initiatives in one country such as Iran can provide an important impetus to support nutrition and food system education more widely.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  International Journal of Preventive Medicine

• Publication date

  2016-10-26

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Medicine, Education

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.4103/2008-7802.193094PMID 27857832PMCID 5093892
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Development of Learning Management Model Based on Constructivist Theory and Reasoning Strategies for Enhancing the Critical Thinking of Secondary Students.

  2015cited by this paper
• Whole school mapping to investigate the school environment's potential to promote a healthy diet and physical activity in Malaysia

  2015cited by this paper
• Food safety knowledge and practices of young adults.

  2015cited by this paper
• Nutritional knowledge and dietary habits survey in high school population.

  2015cited by this paper
• Food-based science curriculum yields gains in nutrition knowledge.

  2015cited by this paper
• Food label reading and understanding in parts of rural and urban Zimbabwe.

  2014cited by this paper
• School food gardens: fertile ground for education

  2014cited by this paper
• Evaluation of the impact of a school gardening intervention on children’s fruit and vegetable intake: a randomised controlled trial

  2014cited by this paper
• Impact of cooking and home food preparation interventions among adults: outcomes and implications for future programs.

  2014cited by this paper
• Health Education in Primary School Textbooks in Iran in School Year 2010–2011

  2014cited by this paper
• Food-based Science Curriculum Increases 4th Graders Multidisciplinary Science Knowledge.

  2013cited by this paper
• Adapted intervention mapping: a strategic planning process for increasing physical activity and healthy eating opportunities in schools via environment and policy change.

  2013cited by this paper
• Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

  2013cited by this paper
• Breakfast, midday meals and academic achievement in rural primary schools in Uganda: implications for education and school health policy

  2012cited by this paper
• Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries.

  2012cited by this paper
• Cooking in schools: rewarding teachers for inspiring adolescents to make healthy choices

  2011cited by this paper
• Indian physiotherapists’ perceptions of factors that influence the adherence of Indian patients to physiotherapy treatment recommendations

  2010cited by this paper
• Nutrition education: towards a whole‐school approach

  2010cited by this paper
• School wellness policies: perceptions, barriers, and needs among school leaders and wellness advocates.

  2010cited by this paper
• Technical and vocational education and the structure of education system in Iran

  2010cited by this paper
• Nutrition education in schools

  2007cited by this paper
• A logic model framework for community nutrition education.

  2005cited by this paper
• Toward a Holistic Theory of Knowledge and Adult Learning

  2003cited by this paper
• Nutrition education in schools: experiences and challenges

  2003cited by this paper
• School-based nutrition education: lessons learned and new perspectives

  2001influential reference
• Vitamins in Spanish food patterns: The eVe Study

  2001cited by this paper
• Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research

  2001cited by this paper
• Healthy Nutrition: an essential element of a health- promoting school

  1998cited by this paper

• Putting food at the centre of learning: an evidence-based and practice-informed model of holistic food education in schools.

  2025cites this paper
• Development and evaluation of an intervention to improve food and nutrition literacy among Iranian Kurdish primary school children: An application of intervention mapping approach

  2023cites this paper
• Development and Validation of Food and Nutrition Literacy Assessment Tool for Iranian High-school Graduates and Youth

  2020cites this paper
• School Nutrition Education

  2019cites this paper
• An epistemological assessment of learning nutritional information with augmented reality

  2019cites this paper
• Nutrition and food systems education for secondary school students in Australia and Iran

  2018influential citation
• What Should Be Taught in Secondary Schools’ Nutrition and Food Systems Education? Views from Prominent Food-Related Professionals in Australia

  2017influential citation
• Professionals’ Recommended Strategies to Improve Australian Adolescents’ Knowledge of Nutrition and Food Systems

  2017influential citation