Toward the upscaling of school nutrition programs in Dubai

An exploratory study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22068898
AutoresReem AlGurg (0000-0002-3135-5352, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences), Nour Abu Mahfouz (0000-0002-6524-2153, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences), Farah Otaki (0000-0002-8944-4948, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences), M Alameddine (0000-0002-2299-1242, University of Sharjah, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen10
Páginas1038726-1038726
Fecha de publicación2022-11-07
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
EditorialFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2022.1038726
PMID36419985
OpenAlexW4308322144
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas34

Background: School nutrition programs impact the intellectual, social, and emotional development of school children, as well as their future risk of developing Non-Communicable Diseases. While many stakeholders are involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, little is known about the complementarity among those stakeholders, and the means to upscale school nutrition programs while ensuring effective, efficient, and equitable implementation. Accordingly, this study aims at exploring the perceptions of a diverse group of stakeholders, positioned at differing levels of the public health and education ecosystems in the United Arab Emirates, in relation to current guidelines and practices around the planning, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Methods: The current study relied on a qualitative design, based on semi-structured key informant interviews. A total of 29 interviews were carried out. Those interviewees included leaders and directors from different institutions, decision- and policy- makers, nutritionists and dieticians, school nurses and nurse managers, and school principals and vice principals. All stakeholders were interviewed by the research team. Data was transcribed, and then thematically analyzed using the health systems' model as an analytic framework. Results: The thematic analysis of interview data identified five interrelated themes. The first theme relates to the limited coordination across regulatory local and federal entities, and the multiplicity of guidelines issued by the different stakeholders. The challenges around the human and financial resourcing of school nutrition programs constituted the second theme. The third theme was the weakly coordinated implementation efforts. The fourth theme was the need for better performance measurement, and the fifth theme flagged the need for improved inclusiveness for health needs and cultural preferences of the diverse student body in Dubai (given that there are citizens from more than 200 nationalities co-existing in Dubai). Conclusion: This study emphasizes that all the involved stakeholders need to better collaborate to upscale the school nutrition program in Dubai. This will require the formation of a unified governing body, which would identify and develop a single stream of resources, and sets in place a reliable, all encapsulating and equitable implementation plan along with an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework

Dieticians · Medical education · Political science · Public relations · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Stakeholder · Thematic analysis · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · School Health and Nursing Education