Deana Leahy

Purpose: This study aims to explore the level of food system literacy amongst children and families attending a food sustainability festival and examine children's perspectives regarding which actions they consider feasible and within their sphere of influence to improve our future food system. Design/methodology/approach: Conducted at the Little Food Festival in Australia, this study involved qualitative, child-friendly methods. Data were collected from children aged 5–12 through arrival and departure surveys, including pictorial responses to the prompt: “What is one action you will take to improve our food system?” Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret the children's drawings. Findings: Survey results revealed limited food systems literacy on arrival (n = 293), with most children identifying “supermarkets” as the main food source. Children's drawings after participation in festival activities reflected a broader systemic awareness (n = 83), whereby five themes of actions to improve the food system were identified: “gardening”, “food consumption”, “waste management”, “behaviour change and advocacy” and “respect and understanding of the natural ecosystem”. Waste management was the most frequently depicted action, likely reflecting existing school and government initiatives. Findings highlight the need for adults to create supportive environments for children's intentions to translate into action. Originality/value: This study offers a novel contribution by investigating food festivals as accessible sites for developing children's food systems literacy. Utilising an innovative evaluation method, the analysis of children's drawings, this research provides valuable insights into children's perspectives on their role in food system transformation and broader implications for policy and educational practices.

Today’s young people face a myriad of changes around how they connect, socialise, and come together with each other and with their families. Shifts in family working patterns, living arrangements, and technology have been blamed for rising rates of loneliness, mental health concerns, and other negative outcomes. While research is yet to pinpoint the exact outcomes of these socio-cultural shifts, what remains is a compelling and telling body of research around the importance of belonging and the role that food plays in meeting this fundamental human need particularly in school settings. A sense of belonging is defined as feeling like one is an integral part of their surrounding systems, including their family, friends, school, work environment, community, and physical places. The role of food in fostering a feeling of belonging has been well established but discrepantly discussed across various disciplines. Research also points to certain situations where food may also disrupt a student’s sense of belonging. This chapter seeks to narratively explore the importance of food for fostering a sense of belonging at school through several perspectives to create an interdisciplinary understanding. These perspectives represent a narrative synthesis of the literature exploring the importance of food, its implications for special populations as well as its relevance during times of crisis.

Young people tend to have low levels of sexual health literacy. The aims of this work were to explore health professionals’ perspectives of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education in Australia and what they considered should be the core components of SRH curriculum, particularly for Year 11 and 12 students. In September and October, 2021, health professionals (n = 12) with expertise in SRH, in Victoria, Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Data underwent descriptive qualitative analyses. Five themes and four sub-themes were identified. School-based SRH education was considered an important opportunity to provide young people with awareness and knowledge of SRH. In young people, awareness and knowledge of SRH were linked with higher levels of motivation and empowerment to protect SRH. Participants’ opinions of key areas that should be covered in SRH education aligned with the national Australia Curriculum, with additional teaching about the health care services available to young people considered important. Concern was expressed that formal SRH education often ceases at the end of Year 10. Participants advocated for collaboration between education and health care, including trained external providers of school-based SRH education and school-based health care to increase young peoples’ access to SRH information and care.

Young people aged >15 years (Years 11 and 12 students) in Australia are unlikely to receive school-based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education. The aims of this study were to gather the perspectives of young people regarding their experiences of school-based SRH education and explore what they considered should be the core components of this form of education for Years 11 and 12 students. A mixed-methods study involving an online survey (n = 1226) and six workshops (n = 20) was undertaken in Victoria, Australia between September and November 2021. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the survey data. Qualitative workshop transcripts were coded before five themes and three sub-themes were identified. Participants reported feeling let down by the inadequate provision of SRH education at school. Those who had received SRH education in Years 11 and 12 were more likely to report they left school with enough knowledge to protect their SRH. Participants reported wanting SRH education in Years 11 and 12 and described some of the strategies that schools can adopt to make this possible without compromising other learning priorities. Further work is required to clarify the best way forward in this respect.

Guest editorial: Health education's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Global challenges and future directions - Author: Emily Darlington, Jessica Fields, Ali Greey, Deana Leahy

Many young people in Australia leave secondary school with little understanding of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This study aims to describe Australian teachers’ experiences when providing SRH education, map their use of resources, and explore barriers and strategies to increase students’ skills and confidence to protect their SRH. Quantitative data were gathered via an online questionnaire (n = 189) before qualitative data were elicited via semi-structured interviews (n = 16). Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted on non-parametric data, with Mann-Whitney U tests being used to explore differences between groups. Deductive thematic analysis identified three themes and five sub-themes. Participants valued SRH education and were confident to provide it. They reported having access to a range of resources but not the time or awareness to use these resources to greatest advantage. Participants believed that barriers to providing SRH education, such as non-specialist teachers and students not choosing Health as a subject in the later years of schooling can be overcome with teacher education and training. Findings paint a somewhat positive picture of SRH education in Australia including life-changing learning experiences for students, a range of useful resources available to teachers, and the potential of SRH education when staff and school leadership recognise it as a priority.

In this article, we draw on interview data with three Vietnamese women to explore how categorical difference works through the ways that these women constitute themselves and are constituted as academics and doctoral students in Australian universities. Our analysis focuses on the arrangement of things that make neoliberalism an inexhaustive force, working via affective connections with other social, historical and material conditions in producing differences. Drawing on the Deleuzian concept of assemblage and contemporary feminist views of affect, we map moments when things come together via their affective capacities to produce identity categories, structures, binaries and power relations in Australian neoliberal universities. Our theorisation of categorical difference as affective assemblage is helpful in understanding the production of differences as affective arrangements of matter and meaning that are linked not only to contemporary neoliberal practices and regimes but also to historical pasts that are often Eurocentric, racialised and conventionally gendered. Given that the categorical difference is affective and contingent, we suggest that it can be surmounted when any of us, at any moment, can affect others via our capacities to think outside ordered systems no matter how powerful they might be in the thoughts of those engaged.

Issue addressed: Governments across the world use guidelines and policy to support improving the quality and nutrition in school canteens, yet little is known about what makes for success in supporting school canteens. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the implementation of a healthy school canteen policy.Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach using interviews with a purposive sample of Victorian schools that had successfully implemented a healthy school canteen was conducted. Twelve interviews were conducted with principals (n = 4), assistant principal (n = 1), canteen managers (n = 5), food services manager (n = 1) and canteen staff members (n = 3) across six Victorian schools. Data were analysed using a content analysis approach.Results: Three key themes explained the adoption of policy: Values – emphasising service over profit; Knowledge – understanding of nutrition and the policy; and Support – from within and external to the school.Conclusions: Implementation of school canteen policy is more likely to be achieved when a school can focus on the service and educative component of the policy and where there is a shared priority for healthy eating across the entire school community.So what?: Creating a culture of service and community engagement with a healthy school canteen may increase policy implementation and should be the focus of future health promotion efforts.