Developing Canteen Staff’s Skills in Providing Healthy Meals from the Perspective of Vocational School Students: A Mixed Methods Study

Young adults attending vocational education and training schools often engage in various health risk factors, including poor dietary habits. School canteens are key settings that can promote students' healthy food choices. This study aims to enhance the skills of vocational school canteen staff in preparing healthy food, student-centered communication, and meal presentation. A mixed-methods approach incorporated participatory action research and grounded theory (GT) analysis. The participants included 17 staff members, aged 21 to 60 years, working at three canteens that serve 557 students. Over eight months, four workshops were conducted, with staff engaging in exploratory actions between sessions to enhance student interaction and create healthy meals accommodating student preferences. Data collected from observations, field notes, and interviews were analyzed using GT, while survey data on student meal preferences were described statistically. A one-week choice architecture intervention was implemented in one canteen, and receipt data were collected to assess the impact of the new meal presentations and assessed using binomial logistic regression. The GT analysis identified the core category: "A dialogical hospitality approach facilitates reassurance." The workshops enhanced the staff's skills in healthy food preparation, incorporating student preferences and boosting their confidence in employing a hospitality-based dialogical approach, reassuring students to make healthy food choices. The choice architecture intervention led to a significant increase in the sales of healthy meals. This study highlights the importance of involving staff in targeted training through participatory methods to promote students' healthier food options in vocational school settings.