Making School-Based GHG-Emissions Tangible by Student-Led Carbon Footprint Assessment Program

Schools play an important role in achieving climate protection goals, because they lay the foundation of knowledge for a responsible next generation. Therefore, schools as institutions have a special role model function. Enabling schools to become aware of their own carbon footprint (CF) is an important prerequisite for being able to tap the substantial CO2 reduction potential. Aiming at the direct involvement of students in the assessment process, a new assessment tool was developed within the Schools4Future project that gives students the opportunity to determine their own school’s CF. With this instrument the CO2 emissions caused by mobility, heating and electricity consumption as well as for food in the school canteen and for consumables (paper) can be recorded. It also takes into account existing renewable energy sources. Through the development of the tool, not only a monitoring instrument was established but also a concrete starting point from which students could take actions to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the tool and its methods used to calculate the CF and compares it with existing approaches. A comparative case study of four pilot schools in Germany demonstrates the practicability of the tool and reveals fundamental differences between the GHG emissions.

The Dangerous Consumption of Hazardous Snacks and Independent Smart AcupresureTraining as Intelligence Improvements Students in Mlajah Elementary Schools Bangkalan Madura

School children were vulnerable to had unhealthy snacked behavior due to their low knowledge and awareness in clean and healthy lived behavior. Even though there was a lot of data that shows unhealthy snacks for school children are sold not in the school canteen. To stimulate children's intelligence so that children could had good food and should achievements, smart acupressure was carried out, so that children were healthy in nutrition and brain. The purposed of this serviced was to seek to improved the health status of elementary school children through comprehensive promotive, preventive efforts and to increase student knowledge primary school. There was certainly very important to increased the awareness of school children about the importance of been aware of dangerous food snacked. This health education and smart acupressure trained was held in February 2020 at SDN Mlajah 01, and as a result the students (Afni, 2018)knew about the dangers of consumed food carelessly and the consequences if consumed such food, and smart acupressure trained could be carried out correctly by students of SDN Mlajah Bangkalan.

Research of the compliance of the actual consumption of food products by the school pupils with the recommended consumption rates

The aim of the research is to study the correspondence of the actual consumption of food products by schoolchildren of different age groups in Krasnodar to the recommended consumption standards and to identify their taste preferences in order to justify the choice of basic products for creating products enriched with complexes of deficient micronutrients. The study of the actual consumption of food products by schoolchildren was carried out by a questionnaire using the 24-hour food reproduction method, and additional questions were included in the questionnaires to establish the preferences of schoolchildren when choosing food in the school canteen. It was found that the diet of schoolchildren, especially adolescents, is unbalanced. It was revealed that the consumption of sugar and confectionery products in the diet of schoolchildren significantly exceeded the recommended norm. Fast food constituted 42% in the daily diet of middle and senior schoolchildren. In addition, senior schoolchildren do not follow the diet: 18% of senior schoolchildren eat 4 times a day, 78% eat 3 times a day, and 4% eat only 2 times a day with significant breaks between meals. The study of food preferences of schoolchildren revealed that the greatest demand was for bakery products (67%) and drinks (54%), as well as confectionery (54%). Taking into account that the consumption of sugar and confectionery products in the diet of schoolchildren significantly exceeded the recommended norm and had a negative effect on the young organism, bakery products and drinks were chosen as basic products for creating food products enriched with deficient micronutrient complexes on their basis.

Poor compliance with school food environment guidelines in elementary schools in Northwest Mexico: A cross-sectional study

Background In Mexico, 35.5% of school-age children were overweight or obese in 2018. The school food environment is important because children spend a significant part of their time at school and consume one-third to one-half of their daily meals there. In 2014, a Federal Government guideline for the sale and distribution of food and beverages in Mexican schools was published (the AGREEMENT) but the extent of its implementation is not known. Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study in a representative, random sample of elementary schools, using the tools of the INFORMAS network. Data collection included: a) an interview with a school authority; b) a checklist of items available in the school canteen; c) a checklist of the school breakfast menu; and d) an evaluation of the physical environment. The main indicators were: percentage of implementation (self-report) of the AGREEMENT and percentage of compliance (researcher verified) with the AGREEMENT (based on tools b and c). Results 119 schools participated (response rate 87.5%), with 15.1% (95%CI 9.2–22.8) of the schools reporting having fully implemented the AGREEMENT. However, only 1% (95%CI 0–5.3) of the school canteens and 71.4% (95%CI 57.8–82.7) of the school breakfast menus fully complied with the AGREEMENT. A variety of sugar-sweetened beverages and energy-dense, nutrient poor products were found in the school canteens. Further, only 43.7% of the water fountains in schools were functional and 23.4% were clean. In only 24.4% of schools had the school authorities received formal training related to the AGREEMENT and in 28.6% of schools had the parents received information about the AGREEMENT. Conclusion The AGREEMENT has been poorly implemented in elementary schools in Mexico. Actions are needed to encourage and support its full implementation to improve the food environment in Mexican schools.

Menu Audit of Vegetable-Containing Food Offering in Primary School Canteens in Sydney, Australia: A Preliminary Study

Children’s vegetable intakes are too low, and school canteens could provide an equitable environment to improve their intake. This study aimed to develop and apply a systematic method to quantify the proportion and variety of vegetable-containing items on primary school canteen menus and examine differences between schools of different socio-economic statuses, sizes and types. Online canteen menus from 112 primary schools in Sydney, Australia, were collected, and data were extracted on a total number of items and vegetable-containing items across different menu categories. Further, data on preparation type and variety were extracted. Differences in the proportion of vegetable items between socio-economic status, school size and type were tested. On average, 80.4 ± 34.0 items were listed, with 30% of items containing vegetables. Most sandwiches (60%) and hot foods (54%) contained no vegetables. The variety of raw vegetables (4.9 ± 1.8 types) was greater than for cooked vegetables (1.3 ± 1.2 types; p < 0.01). Limited differences were observed by socio-economic status and school type. Small schools offered fewer vegetable-containing items than large schools. While primary school canteen menus listed a large variety of items, only one-third contained vegetables. Data from this study can be used to track changes and to develop new opportunities to increase the vegetable supply in schools.

Iodine Deficiency Disorders: Current State of the Problem in the Bryansk Region

BACKGROUND: The Bryansk region is one of the regions of the Russian Federation most affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986.In the conditions of a chronic uncompensated deficiency of iodine in the diet in the first months after the accident, an active seizure of radioactive iodine by the thyroid tissue took place, which inevitably resulted in an increase in thyroid diseases from the population in the future. The article presents the results of a control and epidemiological study carried out in May 2021 by specialists of the National Medical Research Center of Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, aimed at assessing the current state of iodine provision in the population of the Bryansk region.AIM: Assessment of iodine supply of the population of the Bryansk region.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was carried out in secondary schools of three districts of the Bryansk region (Bryansk, Novozybkov and Klintsy).The study included 337 schoolchildren of pre-pubertal age (8–10 years), all children underwent: measurement of height and weight immediately before the doctor’s examination, which included palpation of the thyroid gland (thyroid gland); Thyroid ultrasound using a portable device LOGIQe (China) with a multi-frequency linear transducer 10–15 MHz; determination of iodine concentration in single portions of urine. A qualitative study for the presence of potassium iodate in samples of table salt (n = 344) obtained from households and school canteens was carried out on the spot using the express method.RESULTS: According to the results of a survey of 337 pre-pubertal children, the median urinary iodine concentration (mCIM) is 98.3 μg / L (range from 91.5 to 111.5 μg / L, the proportion of urine samples with a reduced iodine concentration was 50.1%). According to the ultrasound of the thyroid gland, 17% of the examined children had diffuse goiter, the frequency of which varied from 9.4 to 29% in the areas of study. The share of iodized salt consumed in the families of schoolchildren in the study areas was 17.8% (values range from 15.6 to 19%), which indicates an extremely low level of iodized salt consumption by the population. All salt used for cooking in school canteen areas of the study was iodized, which confirms compliance with the requirements of SanPiN 2.4.5.2409–08.CONCLUSION: Despite the active implementation in the Bryansk region of various preventive programs of IDD and social activities to promote the use of iodized salt, in the absence of mass prevention with the help of iodized salt to date, their unsatisfactory results should be noted.

The role of the school food environment in improving the healthiness of school canteens and the readiness to reopen post COVID-19 pandemic: A study conducted in Indonesia

Background: Indonesian school children spend one-third of their time in school, where they are exposed to a variety of foods at school canteens. However, the healthiness of school canteens is not yet well understood. This study was conducted to (1) characterize the healthiness and quality of management of school canteens, and (2) measure readiness of school canteens to reopen following COVID-19 closures.Design and Methods: Mixed-methods were used to conduct a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from schools located in the Bantul District of Indonesia. Primary schools (n=152) were randomly selected, with a final sample size of 147. Data were collected using Google Forms, delivered via WhatsApp or email. School canteens were classified as healthy if they had a Healthy Canteen Score (HCS) >= 10, or unhealthy if they had a HCS < 10.Results: Less than half (43.5%) of school canteens were deemed to be healthy. School canteens were more likely to be healthy if the canteen manager had a formal decision letter (OR=15.2; 95% CI=3.7-62.5); used print material messaging (OR= 3.2 to 4.6 times); or received inspection by external officers periodically (OR=2.8; 95% CI= 1.04-7.5). Readiness to reopen was 4.5 (OR=4.5; 95%CI: 1.1-17.9) times higher among schools that had their own canteen, and 4 (OR=3.9; 95% CI =1.1-13.8) times higher among schools located in rural areas, adjusting for the remaining variables.Conclusions: School canteen healthiness can be improved by implementing national food policy and healthy school canteen standards accompanied by the existence of good management practices within schools, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing Healthy School Canteen Intervention among Malaysian Adolescents: A Qualitative Study

This study evaluated implementing a school-based intervention to promote healthier dietary habits in the school environment among Malaysian adolescents using qualitative methods. This qualitative study was conducted in four secondary schools in Perak and Selangor (two urban and two rural schools) that received the intervention (either training or training and food subsidy). A total of eight focus groups (68 students aged 15 years old) and 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with canteen operators, school convenience shop operators, school teachers and school principals in each school. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data to identify suitable themes. We found several initiatives and changes by the schools’ stakeholders to change to a healthy school canteen programme. The stakeholders also noticed the students’ food preferences that influence healthy food intake in canteens and convenience shops. The food vendors and school administrators also found that subsidising healthy meals might encourage healthy eating. Among barriers to implementing healthy school initiatives were the student’s perception of healthy food and their eating habits, which also affect the food vendors’ profit if they want to implement a healthy canteen. The school-based intervention has the potential to promotes healthier eating among school adolescents. Continuous training and monitoring of canteen operators and convenience shops are needed, including building partnerships and educating the students on healthy eating to cultivate healthy eating habits.

Scrutinize of healthy school canteen policy in Iran’s primary schools: a mixed method study

Background Schools provide an opportunity for developing strategies to create healthy food environments for children. The present study aimed to analyze the Healthy School Canteen (HSC) policy and identify challenges of its implementation to improve the school food environment in Iran. Methods This mixed method study included two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative phase, triangulation approach was applied by using semi-structured interviews with key informants, documents review and direct observation. Data content analysis was conducted through policy analysis triangle framework. In the quantitative phase, food items available in 64 canteens of primary schools of Tehran province were gathered. The food’s nutrient data were evaluated using their nutrition facts label. The number and proportion of foods that met the criteria based on Iran’s HSC guideline and the World Health Organization nutrient profile model for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMR) were determined. Results The main contextual factors that affected adoption of HSC policy included health (nutritional transition, high prevalence of non-communicable diseases and unhealthy food environment in and around the schools), political (upstream supportive policies and joint memorandums about health children between the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Ministry of Education), structural (the lack of unified stewardship, inadequate human resource capacity, poor inter-sectional cooperation), economic (school financial problems, poor fiscal supportive of food policies), and socio-cultural (mothers working outside the home, the role of children’s peer group, low nutrition knowledge of school principals) factors. Assessment of the school canteens showed that a large proportion of available foods did not comply with the national guidelines (54.7 ± 2.54%) and WHO-EMR model (85.6 ± 2.34%). The main reasons identified for incomplete implementation of the policy were inadequate physical and economic infrastructure to set up standard school canteens, lack of scientific criteria for food categorization, poor monitoring, high price of healthy foods, and conflict of interest among the actors. Conclusion The majority of foods and beverages available in the school canteens did not comply with national and regional standards. Iran HSC policy needs to be improved by using an evidence-based approach and active interaction between all key actors.