Browsing by Subject "selonteot"

School lunch is an important aspect of food education. A school meal provides energy for the school day, but it is also meant to teach healthy eating habits and good manners. On the other hand, it is a respite in the middle of schoolwork and pupils’ free time along with friends. The basics of the national curriculum outline that school meals are part of the teaching and can also be used to support the adoption of a sustainable lifestyle. However, skipping school lunch is common among high school pupils. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the adolescents’ eating and eating-related practices at school. The focus is on high school pupils who often skip school meals. The aim is to increase the understanding of the phenomenon of non-participation in school lunches. Understanding food-related practices and the justifications for food practices from pupils’ perspective can support the development of food education in a way that better supports adolescents' participation in school lunches. The research topic was approached by means of qualitative research. The data was collected in the beginning of 2017 at one of the schools that participated in the Own Choice -project, funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and implemented by the Youth Academy. The material consists of theme interviews with ten young people aged 13–16. The transcribed data was analysed using thematic analysis and the concept of accounts was used in the interpretation. According to the study, skipping school lunches was associated with many school practices, such as rules, temporal and spatial arrangements, the example of teachers, and the way meals were organized. Living for the moment was characteristic to the pupils' food-related activities during school day. Adolescents explained non-participation in school lunches mainly with personal reasons. The desire for social belonging was a key justification for skipping school lunches, but even more often it led pupils to participate in school meals. Involving students in everyday school practices in a stronger and more diverse way would support participation in meals, but attention should also be paid to the role of teachers as food educators. More effective tools should be developed for teachers, parents, and canteen staff to enable them to support children and youth in different ages to participate in school meals.