Adolescents develop food habits that affect both their present and future health. Underpinned by the stakeholder theory, this study was designed to explore the perspective of parents and nutrition educators regarding urban Indian adolescents' food habits. Thirty-two educators and 280 parents from five independent, English-speaking, secondary schools in Kolkata, India completed a paper-based instrument consisting of both closed and open-ended measures. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis informed by the Template Analysis Technique. Descriptive and cross-tabulation analyses were employed to assess quantitative data. Three quarters (75%) of the respondents were dissatisfied with the ubiquitous consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and sugar-sweetened beverages as well as the low intakes of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables among urban Indian adolescents. Six reasons were advanced for such unhealthy consumption including i) Proliferation of fast food retail outlets; ii) Hyper-palatability of fast food; iii) Marketing of fast food on electronic and social media; iv) Diminished household cooking practices; v) Lack of food knowledge; vi) Tendency to seek peer group acceptance. Both parents and educators suggested some healthy eating strategies aimed at improving the food and nutrition situation in Indian secondary schools to foster healthy eating among pupils. These included: i) Restrictions on the sale of unhealthy foods in school canteens; ii) Increased availability of attractive and palatable nutritious foods; iii) Discussion of the advantages of consuming healthy foods and inclusion of food preparation techniques in the school curriculum; iv) Home Economics coursework to be made mandatory for students. The findings suggest that Indian parents and teachers are likely to support changes to the food and nutrition curricula and to school food provision to foster healthy eating among adolescents.

中文翻译：

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“你认为青少年的食物摄入量是否令人满意？” – 印度家长和老师的看法

青少年养成的饮食习惯会影响他们现在和未来的健康。在利益相关者理论的支持下，本研究旨在探讨父母和营养教育者对印度城市青少年饮食习惯的看法。来自印度加尔各答五所独立的英语中学的 32 名教育工作者和 280 名家长完成了一项包含封闭式和开放式措施的纸质工具。定性数据根据模板分析技术进行专题分析。采用描述性和交叉表分析来评估定量数据。四分之三 (75%) 的受访者对无处不在的高耗能消费表示不满，缺乏营养的食物和含糖饮料，以及印度城市青少年对水果和蔬菜等健康食品的摄入量较低。提出这种不健康消费的六个原因包括：i) 快餐零售店的激增；ii) 快餐的超适口性；iii) 快餐在电子和社交媒体上的营销；iv) 减少家庭烹饪习惯；v) 缺乏食品知识；vi) 寻求同龄人接受的倾向。家长和教育工作者都提出了一些旨在改善印度中学食品和营养状况的健康饮食策略，以促进学生的健康饮食。其中包括： i) 限制在学校食堂销售不健康食品；ii) 增加有吸引力和可口的营养食品的供应；iii) 讨论食用健康食品的优势以及在学校课程中加入食品制备技术；iv) 家政课程是学生的必修课。调查结果表明，印度父母和教师可能支持改变食品和营养课程以及学校食品供应，以促进青少年的健康饮食。