Parental Engagement in School Meals of Basic Level Students in Khairahani Municipality, Chitwan

Abstract

This study entitled "Parental Engagement in school meal of basic level students in Chitwan district" was carried out by Parents and stakeholders of Rastriya Basic School.The main objectives of the study were to identify the extent to which parents were involved in supporting the school in preparing snacks for their children before and after the PAR-based parental engagement intervention session at school. Also, how parental engagement helped to promote healthy snack eating behavior of basic level students. The study was descriptive using qualitative data obtained from FGD and indepth interviews.The respondents of this study were the chairperson of the ward office, parents of students in grades one to five,the principal, and the chairperson of SMC at Rastriya Basic School, Janakpur, who formed the population of the study. The total number of parents was divided into at least 3-4 groups. The focus group consists of 6–8 parents who were selected from grades 1-3 and 4-5, respectively. The data were converted to a thematic approach rather than a narrative approach and the results were presented using themes generated by the narrative analysis. The study found that 170 students were eating ready-made snacks or junk food and only 7 students were eating homemade food in classes 3–8 in the previous days, but nowadays the school provides snacks for all the students. In the past, the school support staff used to prepare the snacks on the stairs for the kinder garden students but now everything is neat and clean with suitable furniture in the canteen with the parent's involvement in the process.