This fact sheet reports on parents’ and caregivers’ attitudes on their child’s access at school to high fat foods and sugary drinks and foods in the 2014 HLS. Methodology
Methodology
To measure parents’ and caregivers’ attitudes towards limiting access to unhealthy foods and beverages in schools, they were asked the extent of the importance they placed on their child’s school limiting access to the following: a) high fat foods such as pies, hot chips, sausage rolls and hot dogs; b) sugary drinks such as soft drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks; and c) sugary foods such as lollies, cookies and doughnuts. Level of importance of limiting access was measured on a five-point scale ranging from ‘very important’ to ‘very unimportant’.
To assess if any demographic differences existed in parents’/caregivers’ support for the importance of limiting the availability of certain foods and beverages, responses were grouped into ‘important’ (‘very important’ or ‘important’) or ‘unimportant’ (‘neither important nor unimportant’, ‘unimportant’ or ‘very unimportant’). Child ethnicity1, child age, neighbourhood deprivation and parent/caregiver educational background were considered for subgroup differences2. See the ‘About the Health and Lifestyles Survey’ section for more detail and the relevant comparison groups. Statistically significant differences (p < .05) are reported.