Early School Leavers: A Needs Assessment From a Nutrition Perspective

• Project start date: 1 October 2010
• Project status: Completed
• Project type: Food safety
• Discipline: Nutrition
• Principal researcher/s: Dr Michelle Share, Trinity College Dublin
• Collaborator/s: Dr Barbara Stewart-Knox, University of Ulster, Coleraine

Research objective

• To provide an overview of the key structures/networks for accessing early school leavers in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• To identify relevant key existing health promotion activities and gaps in health promoting activities that focus on healthy eating and active lifestyles that target early school leavers.
• To identify potential healthy eating and physical activity related programmes that are appropriate and acceptable to early school leavers in Ireland and Northern Ireland that could be implemented by Safefood in the out-of-school setting.

Outputs

Research report

• Title: Early School Leavers and Nutrition - A needs assessment from a nutrition perspective
• Publication date: 5 December 2013
• Summary: This study aimed to inform a response to the nutrition education needs of young people and other stakeholders in alternative education and training settings.
• Findings:
  • In Northern Ireland service provision crosses a range of government departments but responsibility lies primarily with the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL).
  • In Ireland, the Youthreach programme is the main formal, statutory response to ESL and is delivered through Youthreach Centres of Education, Community Training Centres (CTCs) and Justice Workshops (JW).
  • Formal provision is more structured in terms of: availability of educational and vocational programmes; resources and standards.
  • Informal provision is widespread throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland but tends to be ad-hoc and to some extent overlaps with other ESL service provision.
• Recommendations:
  1. There is an opportunity for Safefood and other organisations to inform policy related to the ESL sector in the funding for meals, kitchen equipment and facilities, and food quality and safety.
  2. There is an opportunity for Safefood to develop/offer training in guidelines for good practice in food education and provision in ESL settings staff involved in the delivery of food, health, and physical activity programmes, and food and nutrition policy. Such training opportunities could be developed in partnership with other agencies such as NYCI, Irish Heart Foundation.
  3. Safefood’s work complements the current nutrition education in alternative education and training settings and could be tailored and expanded to reach a wider audience of young people who are ESLs, in particular young parents.
  4. There should be a review of the nutrition related curriculum in ESL settings to determine where subjects/modules can be aligned so that practical skills that can be transferred into young people’s lives outside of centres.
  5. Safefood should ensure that programmes it develops for ESL settings are accredited by FETAC (ROI) or OCN/OCR/CCEA (NI).
  6. Safefood should consider where role-modelling or champions exist that can support the ESL sector in food-related health issues.
  7. Safefood should undertake a review of its nutrition promotion resources to determine their suitability for the ESL sector, for example resources such as 101+ Square Meals; 'How to prepare your baby's bottle'; and 'Food supplements' could be adapted to these settings. Meaningful activity-based resources should be developed for the ESL sector that develop young people’s food literacy. These should be enjoyable for young people and seek to develop their critical awareness of food and eating and its relevance to other issues in their lives.
  8. Safefood should consider working with young people in ESL settings to develop suitable resources, for use in settings, e.g. posters, curricular materials, recipes, cookery books, cooking for children.
  9. Safefood could consider working with other organisations such as the National Association of Youthreach Coordinators and Irish Association of Community Training Organisations to develop a special interest group in relation to food and the development of resources.
  10. Further research could be undertaken to examine food provision in alternative education and training settings (quality/cost) and used for the development of best practice guidelines or standards for the sector.
  11. Research should be undertaken that examines qualifications and training needs of staff in ESL settings in relation to nutrition/physical activity/health promotion.
  12. Any new programme/resource/module should be evaluated for effectiveness.

  You can download the research report and workshop report below.

Other outputs

Share, M. and Hennessy, M. (eds) (2012) Young People, Food and Alternative Education and Care, Seminar Proceedings, 23 November 2011, TCD, Dublin, Children’s Research Centre.

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