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School food environments and the obesity issue: content, structural determinants, and agency in Canadian high schools

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Abstract

To understand the phenomenon of the rapidly increasing prevalence of overweight and obese children and youth, it is especially important to examine the school food environment, the role of structural factors in shaping this environment, and the resulting nutrition and health outcomes. The paper examines research on school food environments in the US and Canada. It notes evidence of widespread availability of poor nutrition products in both environments and delineates reasons for the situation, and examines initiatives presently being undertaken in a number of jurisdictions in both countries to encourage healthy eating in schools. Empirical data are presented from a pilot study of high schools in the Canadian province of Ontario. The study documents the extent of student purchasing of nutrient-poor foods and beverages, and the structural factors internal and external to the school that appear responsible for the availability of such products in food environments in this critical institutional sphere. The paper also examines positive local initiatives in high schools that seek to encourage healthy eating in schools.

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Notes

  1. Body Mass Index (BMI) has gained wide acceptance as an indicator. The body mass index or BMI—the ratio of body weight to squared height in meters (kg/m2)—was proposed by the anthropologist Quételet in the nineteenth century. Although BMI is highly correlated with adiposity, it is not a true measure of it (Fontaine and Allison 2004, p. 780). Moreover, it is influenced by age, gender, ethnic background, dietary habits, and physical activity (Ferrera 2005, p. vii). A person’s BMI is calculated by dividing his/her weight in kilograms by the square of his/her height in meters [BMI = kg/m2]. A BMI of 18.5–24.9 is considered normal, while 25–29.9 is considered “overweight” and >30 is considered “obese.”

  2. For an extensive recent survey on the science examining the relationship between weight and mortality, see Fontaine and Allison (2004) and Manson et al. (1995, 2004). For recent surveys of literature examining the relationship between obesity and disease, see Manson et al. (ibid.), Saltzman and Benotti (2004), Pi-Sunyer (1993), Pi-Sunyer and Albu 2004), Ko and Lee (2004), and Must and Strauss (1999).

  3. The right granted to a beverage company through a contractual agreement to have exclusive access to an institutional food environment, presumably in return for some monetary or non monetary compensation to the granting institution.

  4. Rumors circulated for some months during the time of writing among Canadian food analysts about leading politicians in British Columbia being spurred into action there by an analyst’s report that the costs of obesity-related diseases would soon be so large that spending on health would soon strip revenues from all other ministries. A conversation with a policy analyst in the provincial Department of Agriculture in June, 2007 confirmed that such a report did exist and that it had had a considerable impact.

  5. The new regulations define “maximum nutrition” to be products that are “high in essential nutrients for growth, learning and health … and are low in salt, sugars, sweeteners, and saturated and trans fats” (Government of Nova Scotia 2006, p. 1).

  6. For an in-depth discussion of the battles between food and beverage corporations and those opposed to marketing poor nutrition products in schools, see Simon (2006, especially Chapts. 10 and 11). Critics of the Blair Government’s ad ban on junk foods in the UK argue that due to food industry lobbying, the ban does not go far enough in that it does not apply to programs watched by children and youth, but which are not specifically targeted to these audiences (Which? February 22, 2007). Others have argued that the legislation will not control brand advertising but only advertising of specific products; thus will have limited effect (see National Heart Forum, October 26, 2006).

  7. Among these limitations of the mail-in questionnaires that were utilized are low response rates in some cases; lack of control over who answered the questionnaire, and lack of knowledge of their experience base relevant to the issues covered in the survey instrument; and the fact they were largely limited to quantitative data collection. The authors of the surveys readily admit to these limitations in their published reports.

  8. The author was informed early on in the interview process by school principals that it was entirely up to the private operators whether they would consent to be interviewed in schools that had privatized their operations.

  9. These remarks are based on interviews with respondents overseeing cafeteria and vending machine operations in high schools, a group composed of teachers with special duties as “student activity directors” and/or cafeteria managers depending on the school.

  10. For a review of this literature see Winson (2004, 2007) and McGinnis (2006).

  11. One respondent in charge of food services argued the need to maintain the level of revenue provided by junk food sales in vending machines because he did not want to give the school board any further reason to privatize food services in his school.

  12. Walking distance is key, because with the elimination of grade 13 in Ontario schools, only a relatively small percentage of the school population is now of driving age and able to bring a vehicle to school.

  13. On-site inspection by the author in some locations verified that hydrogenated oils were used in some pre-prepared products. It was not possible to check all pre-prepared products in all locations, however.

  14. In one school, for example, vending machine revenues were used to fund purchases of new school clocks and completion of the parking lot. Vending machine revenues can be considerable it would seem, as one respondent noted that annual revenues were in the range of $17,000–$20,000.

  15. Critics of the Blair Government’s ad ban on junk foods in the UK argue that due to food industry lobbying the ban does not go far enough because it does not apply to programs watched by children and youth that are not specifically targeted to these audiences (Gibson and Smithers, November 18, 2006). Others have argued that the legislation will not control brand advertising but only advertising of specific products and thus have limited effect (see National Heart Forum, October 26, 2006).

Abbreviations

BMI:

Body Mass Index

CDC:

US Center for Disease Control (now: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Maxine Fung for her collaboration in the fieldwork phase of this project, and Anita Mahadeo for her efforts with the organization of the data. The comments of anonymous reviewers and the editor were helpful in revising the article. Data collection was assisted by a grant from the University of Guelph.

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  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph, Mackinnon Building, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G 2W1

    Anthony Winson

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Winson, A. School food environments and the obesity issue: content, structural determinants, and agency in Canadian high schools. Agric Hum Values 25, 499–511 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-008-9139-8

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