Childhood obesity and the basis for child nutrition programmes in kindergartens of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Childhood obesity is increasing in the Middle East and across the globe, due to several environmental factors found in schools and at home. Therefore, implementing Child Nutrition Programmes in schools is essential to deliver nutrition education, school meals, and training to children, teachers and caregivers. We have designed a qualitative study on focus groups using interview based questionnaires, which was applied to 48 kindergartens, 20 parents, two bookstores and 12 global nutrition consulting companies. SPSS 21 was used to analyse the frequency and percentages of the data. This study focused on the barriers and factors that will contribute to the successful implementation of Child Nutrition Programmes in the kindergartens of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the respondents showed positive attitudes towards developing child nutrition programmes with the following activities: nutrition education for children, training/workshops for teachers and parents and meal planning for healthy meals at home. According to global consulting companies, the greatest obstacles to the delivery of nutrition programmes to educational institutions are lack of awareness, cost coverage and high resistance and reluctance. Parent pressure, marketing uniqueness and awareness generation should be addressed prior to the programme’s implementation to facilitate programme appreciation and parental acknowledgment. Finally, support from the government and non-government organisations will facilitate the successful implementation of the Child Nutrition Programmes thereby reducing the incidence of childhood obesity in the kindergartens of Saudi Arabia.