Opportunities for intervention and innovation in the UK School Food System: the GENIUS (Generating Excellent Nutrition In UK Schools) network

学校提供的食物对儿童的饮食质量有着重大影响，并有可能减少因社会或经济背景而造成的儿童之间饮食摄入量的不平等。儿童时期的饮食质量已被证明会影响未来的发展，教育成就，健康和福祉结果，也会影响成年后的饮食以及晚年的疾病风险（如糖尿病，心脏病）。在英国，学校之间和国家之间在如何安排食物供应和提供什么方面存在差异，这一点还没有得到很好的理解。我们提出了一个英国学校食品网络（GENIUS），考虑到整个学前班，小学和中学的食品系统，并包括所有学校的食品供应，无论是在食堂内外。该网络的目标是在联合王国学校建立一个更加促进健康的食品和营养系统。目标包括在英国积极研究和影响学校食品的学者和非学者网络的发展，使用一系列新颖的研究方法来了解当前英国学校食品系统，并欣赏其复杂性，并检查英国四个国家之间的异同和最佳实践领域。最后，该网络将探讨采取干预措施的机会，这些措施将对学校食品产生积极影响，改善在校儿童的饮食质量，并减少不平等现象。该网络将汇集来自营养学、流行病学、公共卫生、感官科学、卫生经济学、卫生信息学、卫生心理学、教育、规划和政策等一系列背景的研究人员。包括来自英国各地的积极参与学校食品供应的项目合作伙伴，包括当地政府，餐饮供应商，学生和家长，将确保网络的工作立即有用，并且这个学者和非学者团队将共同确保研究优先事项和与学校环境相关的问题的发展。该网络将采用讲习班、工作组和资助小型项目相结合的方式，绘制学校食品系统地图，并共同开发研究问题。了解当前的食品体系，建立对学校食品感兴趣和从事学校食品工作的人的网络，将推动学校食品环境的研究和政策。调查结果将在学术和非学术环境中广泛展示，以确保调查结果产生影响。将根据网络活动期间初步共同编制的研究问题和优先领域，与政策制定者和学校合作，开发资金申请，并将长期维持网络。

Food provided in schools has a major influence on the quality of children's diets and has the potential to reduce inequalities in dietary intake between children according to their social or economic background. The quality of diet in childhood has been shown to impact on future development, educational achievement, health and well-being outcomes, and also influences diet in adulthood, as well as disease risk (e.g. diabetes, heart disease) in later life. There are differences in how schools arrange their food provision and what they serve, between schools and between countries in the UK, and this is not well understood. We propose a UK school food network (GENIUS), considering the food system across the preschool, primary and secondary schools, and including all school food provision, both within and outside the canteen. The aim of this network will be to work towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools. Objectives include the development of a network of academics and non-academics across the UK actively researching and influencing school food, the use of a range of novel research methods to understand the current UK school food system, and appreciate its complexities, and examination of similarities and differences and areas of best practice between the four nations of the UK. Finally, the network will explore opportunities for interventions that will positively impact on school food, improve the diet quality of children at school and reduce inequalities. The network will bring together researchers from a range of backgrounds including nutrition, epidemiology, public health, sensory science, health economics, health informatics, health psychology, education, planning and policy. Inclusion of project partners who are actively involved in the provision of school food from across the UK, including from local government, catering providers, pupils and parents, will make sure the work of the network is immediately useful and, together, this team of academics and non-academics will ensure the-development of research priorities and questions that are relevant in the school setting. This network will use a combination of workshops, working groups and funding of small projects to map the school food system and work together to develop research questions. Understanding the current food system and building this network of those interested in and working in school food will advance research and policy around the food environment in schools. Findings will be presented widely in both the academic and non-academic setting to make sure the findings have an impact. Funding applications will be developed based on the initial co-production of research questions and priority areas during network activities, working in partnership with policy makers and schools, and will sustain the network in the longer term.