The National School Nutrition Policy aims to create healthy school environments that enhance student learning and are conducive to the development of healthy lifelong eating and activity behaviors through a multisectoral and integrated approach. The policy applies to all public and private schools and educational institutions from preschool to tertiary level and covers six broad thematic areas:
- Food services environment, including:
- Nutrition standards for all foods and beverages available in schools
- Restrictions on marketing and advertisement in schools of foods and beverages which are not consistent with the nutrition standards and healthy dietary practices
- Improvements in eating environments in schools
- School curriculum: Mandatory, comprehensive nutrition and physical education as part of a national, sequential school curriculum from preschool to secondary level
- Physical activity environment: A holistic, comprehensive approach to creating a supportive and sustainable physical activity environment in schools which facilitates participation in PA throughout the school day
- School health and nutrition services: Integration of supportive health and nutrition services to help in the prevention, timely identification and treatment of overweight and obesity and other health and nutrition-related problems
- Annual health/nutrition assessments of all school children
- Strengthened partnerships between schools and health teams
- Health promotion for the school community: Educational and promotional activities to promote active participation of school personnel, parents, and community members and to ensure students receive consistent messages through multiple channels (e.g., home, school, community, and media) and from multiple sources (e.g., parents, peers, teachers, health workers)
- School recognition: Program to encourage schools to promote healthy eating and physical activity and recognizes school efforts at improvement of the school environment in compliance with the policy
The School Nutrition Policy officially was approved in May, 2022, launched February 15, 2023, and is being introduced to all schools in a phased approach during the 2022–2023 academic year.
Read the full policy.