Overweight and obesity are growing concerns in adolescents, particularly in females in South Africa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the food and nutrition environment in terms of government policy programs, nutrition education provided, and foods sold at secondary schools in the Eastern Cape province. Sixteen schools and grade 8–12 learners (N = 1360) were randomly selected from three health districts comprising poor disadvantaged communities. Based on age and sex specific body mass index (BMI) cut-off values, 13.3% of males and 5.5% of females were underweight, while 9.9% of males and 36.1% of females were overweight or obese. The main food items purchased at school were unhealthy energy-dense items such as fried flour dough balls, chocolates, candies, and crisps/chips. Nutrition knowledge scores based on the South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) were poor for 52% to 23.4% learners in Grades 8 to 12, respectively. Female learners generally had significantly higher nutrition knowledge scores compared to their male counterparts (p = 0.016). Questions poorly answered by more than 60% of learners, included the number of fruit and vegetable portions required daily, food to eat when overweight, foods containing fiber, and importance of legumes. It was noted that the majority of teachers who taught nutrition had no formal nutrition training and their responses to knowledge questions were poor indicating that they were not familiar with the FBDGs, which are part of the curriculum. Nutrition assessment as part of the Integrated School Health Program was done on few learners. Overall however, despite some challenges the government national school meal program provided meals daily to 96% of learners. In general, the school food and nutrition environment was not conducive for promoting healthy eating.

中文翻译：

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学习者报告的南非东开普省中学的食品和营养环境。


超重和肥胖问题日益受到青少年、特别是南非女性的关注。本研究的目的是从政府政策计划、提供的营养教育以及东开普省中学销售的食品方面评估食品和营养环境。从由贫困弱势社区组成的三个卫生区中随机选择了 16 所学校和 8-12 年级的学生（ N = 1360）。根据年龄和性别特定体重指数（BMI）截止值，13.3%的男性和5.5%的女性体重不足，而9.9%的男性和36.1%的女性超重或肥胖。在学校购买的主要食品是不健康的高能量食品，例如炸面团、巧克力、糖果和薯片/薯条。根据南非基于食物的膳食指南 (FBDG)，8 至 12 年级学生中分别有 52% 至 23.4% 的学生营养知识得分较差。与男性学习者相比，女性学习者的营养知识得分普遍较高（ p = 0.016）。超过 60% 的学习者回答不佳的问题包括每天所需的水果和蔬菜份量、超重时吃的食物、含纤维的食物以及豆类的重要性。值得注意的是，大多数教授营养学的教师没有接受过正规的营养培训，他们对知识问题的回答很差，这表明他们不熟悉作为课程一部分的 FBDG。作为综合学校健康计划的一部分，营养评估只对少数学习者进行。然而总体而言，尽管存在一些挑战，政府的全国学校供餐计划仍每天为 96% 的学习者提供膳食。 总体而言，学校的膳食和营养环境不利于促进健康饮食。