N.S. needs to do a better job serving healthy food in public schools: Auditor General

More than half the schools surveyed in Nova Scotia are not meeting the standards set out by the Department of Education’s food and nutrition policy, according to findings released by the province Tuesday.

Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair says only 40 per cent of the 26 schools surveyed are complying with nutritional standards.

The report shows lunch programs run by third-party operators were worse, meeting nutritional standards less than 10 per cent of the time. Adair says the department does not know if healthy foods are served in schools because of a lack of monitoring.

“The province has a crucial role to play because healthy food choices can have a significant effect on learning readiness and academic success, and they can also help set the stage for a lifetime of healthy eating,” Adair said in the report.

While obesity rates among children and youth in Canada have nearly tripled in the last 30 years, the report says Nova Scotia’s rate is trending higher than the national average. Statistics Canada data shows in 2020, 23 per cent of Nova Scotia youths were either overweight or obese.

Adair says the province created its first nutrition policy for public schools in 2006 and it is in need of an update. She notes it is based on the 1992 Canada Food Guide, though new versions of the guide were released in 2007 and 2019.

“The 2006 provincial policy was also earmarked for an update every two years, but so far none has been completed,” the report states.

Adair says her audit noted many good practices in place at South Shore Regional Centre for Education. Her office recommends the department and other regional centres for education look at South Shore’s practices to see which ones could be implemented across the province.

The report’s audit period covered Sept. 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021, and pulled data from four regional centres for education -- Halifax, Chignecto-Central, South Shore and Annapolis Valley.

Adair says the report’s 10 recommendations, including updating and regularly evaluating the provincial school nutrition policy, have been accepted by the department and Nova Scotia Health, “with plans for implementation getting underway in the fall.”