Incremental implementation concept for healthy eating habits in German school with kiosk
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 5 June 2024
Issue publication date: 9 September 2024
Abstract
Purpose
School kiosk offerings play a crucial role in the dietary behavior of students. The importance of healthy meals in schools is emphasized again and again, but there is a lack of practical implementation and literature data on kiosk offers and acceptance. This study aimed to analyze the reasons and improve the situation.
Design/methodology/approach
Individual nutrition knowledge and behavior as well as purchasing behavior at a typical kiosk scenario at schools were collected. Based on the outcome, a concept for improving the school kiosk offerings according to the quality standard of the German Nutrition Society was developed. Many obstacles and challenges had to be overcome in the transition to healthier offerings and their implementation. In the course of these changes, the creation of a new feel-good cafeteria lounge was deemed necessary and finally realized.
Findings
A large percentage of the school kiosk offerings did not meet the desires of the school community. Opportunities to improve the school kiosk service were identified. The skillful planning of structural changes towards healthy food offers and warm meals on two weekdays made it possible to implement the official nutrition standards for healthier meals at school kiosks, despite long-term challenges for food providers.
Originality/value
After a critical analysis of the reasons for the lack of politically desired standards for healthier meals at school kiosks, a new implementation culture is presented and was successfully applied to overcome barriers and challenges through an incremental-dynamic concept strategy with iterative cooperation between the actors of food service providers, school administration, school management, teachers and students.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Bauer, M. and Morlock, G.E. (2024), “Incremental implementation concept for healthy eating habits in German school with kiosk”, Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 1031-1046. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-12-2023-0302, incorrectly listed the affiliation of Gertrud E. Morlock. This error occurred during the production process. The affiliation has been corrected in the online version of the article to Institute of Nutritional Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. The publisher sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused.
The authors acknowledge the support given by the Saarland Ministry of Education and Culture and the Berufsbildungszentrum St. Ingbert, Saarland, Germany.
Financial support: Funding was not obtained.
Conflict of interest: None.
Ethical standards disclosure: This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures involving research study participants were approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Germany.
Citation
Bauer, M. and Morlock, G.E. (2024), "Incremental implementation concept for healthy eating habits in German school with kiosk", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 1031-1046. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-12-2023-0302
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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