Provision of lunches in Maltese pre-schools : link with healthy eating and wastage

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate how healthy is kindergarten children’s packed lunch and if the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFS) is effectively encouraging children from three to five years old to improve their fruit and vegetable daily intake. Furthermore, this study also sets out to investigate what is being wasted from their packed lunch and the SFS. In this research study, parents/caregivers, children and kindergarten assistants (KAs) were the primary source of gathering data necessary, which was then analysed and discussed in the light of the related literature review. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilised. Questionnaires with parents, interviews with KAs and children together with observations in two kindergarten classrooms were used to collect data. Through the use of these research tools, the researchers managed to gather different perspectives on how healthy children’s packed lunch is. Moreover, the researchers found out that parents need more information on the SFS and this scheme could also be improved with regards to kindergarten children to be more effective in promoting fruits and vegetables and reduce wastage. The researchers also concluded that a considerable quantity of food wastage from children’s packed lunches is an important issue to be addressed in local schools. This dissertation offers recommendations to help parents prepare a healthy packed lunch for children between the ages of three to five, make the scheme more efficient in promoting fruit and vegetables in early childhood to influence their eating habits, and reduce food wastage in schools.