LAUSR

Purpose Secondary school food education provides students with opportunities to build lifelong healthy dietary practices. A number of stakeholder groups are important for the success of this form of education. Accordingly, the present study examined young adults’ and parents’ opinions of secondary school food education. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered to 1086 respondents drawn from a commercial research panel. Findings Fifty to 60 percent of all respondents agreed that food education should be compulsory for years 7-10 and 31-32% of respondents agreed that it should be compulsory for years 11 and 12. Almost 69% suggested 1-3 hours per week for food education. More than 75% of respondents agreed that there should be a non-compulsory food and nutrition subject for year 11 and 12 students and believed that this subject would help students to develop their food-related knowledge and skills. Practical implications There is a gap between parents’ and young adults’ views of school f...