95 per cent of English P.E.I. schools not compliant with nutrition policy: audit

A child is seen carrying a tray in a school cafeteria in this undated file photo.

A recent audit of healthiness of food found an overwhelming majority of English-language schools and half of French-language schools in Prince Edward Island are not in compliance with nutrition policies.

The Office of the Auditor General of Prince Edward Island released its report on Friday. For its study it looked at 21 schools from the total of 56 in the English-language Public Schools Branch (PSB) and two from the total of six in the Commission scolaire de langue francaise (CSLF).

The audit found 95 per cent of the PSB sample schools and 50 per cent of the CSLF sample schools were not in compliance with the nutrition policies from their respective education authorities.

“The PSB and the CSLF have school nutrition policies dated 2016 and 2011, respectively,” the audit reads. “These policies are not based on the most recent version of Canada’s Food Guide published in 2019.”

The report notes P.E.I. had the second-highest rate of food insecurity in the country in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. At the time, roughly 41 per cent of children under the age of 18 on the Island experienced food insecurity.

The report says many P.E.I. schools lack the processes to monitor if beverages and food offered to students comply with nutrition policies. It also identified barriers to implement school food programs and nutrition policies, but education authorities have not taken steps to address them.

The audit recommends the schools update their nutrition policies to reflect current best practices, develop goals for healthy eating, and report on the outcomes of healthy eating.

In the audit, both the PSB and CSLF acknowledged the recommendations and noted they would work with education partners to address the cited problems.

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