Pro gradu -tutkielmassani tarkastelen sitä, miten kasvisruoka sovitetaan osaksi kouluruokailun käytäntöjä. Tutkin tilannetta, jossa kasvisruoka muutetaan uudistuneiden kouluruokailusuositusten mukaisesti vapaavalintaiseksi kolmessa suomalaisessa yläkoulussa. Tarkastelen kasvisruoan aseman parantamisen nostattamia jännitteitä kouluruokailun ihanteiden välillä sekä ruokapalveluhenkilöstön ratkaisuyrityksiä syntyneiden jännitteiden sovittelemiseksi. Arvioin myös ratkaisuyritysten muutospotentiaalia: uusintavatko ne vanhoja käytäntöjä vai mahdollistavatko kouluruokailun muuttumisen kasvispainotteisemmaksi? Tutkielmani viitekehys rakentuu terveys- ja hyvinvointitutkija Annemarie Molin ruokakäytäntöjen kompleksisuutta käsittelevän tutkimuksen varaan. Vapaavalintaisen kasvisruoan tuominen osaksi kouluruokailua vaatii lukuisia pieniä korjaustoimenpiteitä vanhoissa toimintatavoissa. Samalla ruokapalveluhenkilöstö sovittaa arkisessa tekemisessä yhteen kouluruokailun erilaisia ja usein keskenään ristiriitaisia ihanteita. Hyvä ruoka on aina kompromissi, joka vaatii herkkyyttä ihanteiden välisten jännitteiden tunnistamiselle. Tulosteni mukaan kasvisruokailun edistäminen nostatti jännitteen kasvispainotteisuuden ja ruoan alkuperän huomioimisen välille. Erityisesti maaseudulla ruokapalveluhenkilöstön huolena oli se, että kasvisruoka vähentää kotimaisten raaka-aineiden käyttöä. Kasvisruoalle etsittiin paikka sujuvuuden ihannetta vaalien, jolloin kasvispainotteisuuden edistämisestä joustettiin. Myös ruoan syödyksi tuleminen ja hävikin minimointi olivat ihanteita, joista ruokapalveluhenkilöstö ei ollut valmis tinkimään kasvispainotteisuuden edistämiseksi. Useimmat ruokapalveluhenkilöstön ratkaisuyrityksistä ennemmin ylläpitivät kouluruokailun nykyisiä käytäntöjä kuin onnistuivat murtamaan niitä. Aineisto kuitenkin paljasti myös ratkaisuja, jotka saattavat mahdollistaa käytäntöjen muuttumisen kasvispainotteisemmaksi. Tällaisia olivat esimerkiksi kasvisruoan asemointi mausteisemmaksi vaihtoehdoksi. Tutkielmani keskeisenä johtopäätöksenä on, että kouluruokailun käytäntöjen muutos vaatii kasvispainotteisuuden hivuttamista käytäntöihin päättäväisesti mutta kaiken aikaa syntyviä jännitteitä havainnoiden. Huomion kiinnittyminen liiaksi vain yhteen ihanteeseen voi johtaa kouluruokailun kokonaisuuden kannalta kehnoon lopputulokseen.

The aim of the study was to examine the views of home economics teachers on the use of school meals as part of home economics education. The study explored the opportunities and barriers that home economics teachers perceived in the teaching of home economics linked to school meals. Also of interest were the views of home economics teachers on the common themes and objectives of home and school meals. Previous research has shown that school meals and home economics education have similar objectives, for example in terms of food and sustainability education. It is therefore necessary to deepen our understanding of the potential for this kind of cooperation in the field of growth. The theoretical background of the study is based on the concept of food education, as previous research has argued that it can be used to structure the ways in which food education can be implemented. In this study, the concept of food sense was used to support the analysis. The levels of food sense were used to clarify the views of home economics teachers on the use of school food themes in their teaching. The data for the study was collected through five paired interviews, i.e. a total of ten home economics teachers participated in the study. The interviews were conducted remotely in Zoom. The data were analysed using data and theory-based content analysis. The home economics teachers perceived school meals and home economics education as combining activities such as encouraging sustainable and healthy eating habits, practising interaction skills and learning about food cultures. In their view, school meals can be used as part of the home economics curriculum, for example by commissioning school food surveys, participating in projects or competitions, designing posters, running food councils and discussing related topics with pupils. The obstacles to the implementation of home economics education linked to school meals perceived by teachers included time constraints, the activities of the catering services and the existence of teaching documents. Better integration of school meals into education would require systemic and institutional changes, in particular. In order to support the development of food sense in home education, further research on the learning process for food sense in the context of home education should be carried out.

The literature review focused on the history, present and future challenges of the Finnish school meal. According to earlier studies most of the students eat the school lunch, however only one third of them eat all components that are part of the meal. The aim of this work was to investigate background- and contextual factors affecting acceptance of school meals. A total of 147 students from two schools in Helsinki participated in the study. They were third graders (n=43; 20 girls, 23 boys), sixth graders (n=54, 28 girls, 26 boys), and eight or nine graders (n=31; 17 girls, 14 boys). The participants evaluated 13 school meals and 26 main dishes (13 basic dishes and 13 vegetarian dishes). The main dishes differed due to different dish types and main ingredients. The participants evaluated the meals and the dining situation on questionnaires, in a class room, after the lunch break. A photo of the meal of the day was projected on a screen to remind them of the experience. The respondents checked the immediate emotion when seeing the meal, liking of the meal and its components, the appropriateness of saltiness, spiciness and temperature of the main dish and the dining situation. Demographic data, attitude to school meals in general, food neophobia score, and ratings as response to food names of 30 school meals were collected separately. Liking of the meals and meal components were affected by the age and food neophobia score of the participant. The third graders scored higher for most main dishes and meal components than the sixth graders. Participants with a lower food neophobia score liked the meals better than participants with high scores. 35 % of the overall acceptance of school meals was explained by attitude towards school meals in general, the temperature of the main dish, the participants hunger state before lunch, the saltiness of the main dish, food neophobia and the temperature of the drink in a stepwise regression model. Hunger state was the most explanative factor for the third graders, while the sixth graders acceptance to school meals was mainly explained by the attitude towards school meals in general. The results of this study indicate that the attitude towards school meals get more negative with age. Hence, identifying the factors underlying this attitude change is important in order for the school meal to be accepted and eaten also by older students.

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion of school lunch research and the discussion of developing school meals. The first aim of the study is to highlight children’s perspective and their experiences: what kind of things, actions and thoughts have an influence on children’s school meal experience. The second aim is to assess the use of the method of empathy-based stories as a method of nutrition research and in a child-centered study. The research questions of the study are the following: 1. How do children describe their school lunch experience in empathy-based stories they have written? 2. What kind of knowledge can be acquired by using the method of empathy-based stories in child-centered nutrition research? Methods. The study is a qualitative study based on a phenomenological approach which, as mentioned earlier, highlights children’s perspective. In this study, data were collected using the method of empathy-based stories. The study was a part of the Nordic ProMeal-study (Prospects for Promoting Health and Performance by School Meals in Nordic Countries). The target group was pupils who attended fourth grade in the Turku region in the academic year 2013–2014. The children were approximately 10 years old. Altogether 190 children wrote empathy-based stories. Half of the children (n = 95, analyzed n = 88) wrote a story describing a positive school meal experience and half (n = 95, analyzed n = 92) of them wrote a story of a negative school lunch experience. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. In addition, the information acquired by the method of empathy-based stories was examined from the perspective of nutrition research. Results and conclusions. As a result of the thematic analysis and the arranging of the data, the data consisted of three themes that described the foodscapes of school lunch from the children's point of view: food and eating, the school lunch situation and the social environment. The pleasantness of the food and the food itself had a significant effect on the school lunch experience in the children’s stories, and foods and dishes were also highlighted by name. In addition, the social environment of school lunch affected children’s experience and other children, friends, food service staff and teachers had impact on how children experienced the situation. The children also expressed their need for autonomy and their opportunity to influence the school lunch situation. The results of this study emphasize the need of taking into account the perspective of children when in developing school meal.

Previous studies show that secondary school students participate in school meals in varying degrees. School meals are an important part of students ’school day as they are present at school every day. School meals are part of food education on basic education. With school lunch, students gain energy for study and they can better focus on teaching and learning. However, in many cases, convenience store products attract students more than food served at school. Research objective: The aim of this qualitative case study is to find out what different factors emerge from the students' method of empathy in the texts in relation to school meals. The aim was to find the various reasons raised by the students, which are why they either stay at the school to eat school lunch or go to the convenience store instead. The research questions of the study are: 1. How do students justify staying in to eat school lunch? 2. In what ways do students justify not staying in school meals? Methods. 7th grade students from one unified school in southern Finland participated in the study (N = 127). Data collection was carried out using the empathy method. There were two frame stories, in one of which the student experienced a situation where he went to a convenience store instead of attending school lunch, and in the other he stayed at the school himself to eat despite going to the friends' shop. The material was analyzed by data-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions. The most common reasons for students to stay in school to eat were the food served, the cause-and-effect relationship related to school rules, the healthiness of food, and money. The reasons for going to the store were most often the food served, the friends, the products from the store and the content of the break. The main themes that emerged from the data were ‘Top-down rules and regulations’, ‘Youth-related issues’ and ‘Student-related issues’. In future the research result can be utilized in home economics education and in the development of school meals.

Kunnalliset ruokapalvelut ovat avainasemassa lähiruoan ja luomun käytön edistämisessä. Asiakastarpeiden monipuolistuessa, lähiruoan ja luomun kysyntä on kasvanut ja se luo paineita kunnille lisätä tarjontaansa sekä antamaan mahdollisuuksia uusille ratkaisuille. On kuntakohtaista, tarjotaanko kouluissa lähi- tai luomuruokaa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää rehtoreiden ja kuntapäättäjien näkemyksiä lähiruoan ja luomun käytöstä kouluruokailussa. Kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus toteutettiin teemahaastatteluilla (N=11) Tuusulan kunnan ala- ja yläkoulujen ruokapalveluista talvella 2018–2019. Tutkimuksen viitekehys rakentui kouluruokailun ympärille aikaisempien tutkimusten valossa esitettynä. Tutkimuksen perusteella lähiruokaa ja luomua arvostetaan ja halutaan nykyistä enemmän kouluihin. Rehtoreilla eikä valtuuston jäsenillä ollut lainkaan tietoa lähiruoan tai luomun nykyisestä käyttöasteesta, joten ensisijaisesti toivottiin viestinnän parantamista ja tietoa kunnan tämänhetkisestä tilanteesta. Luomun osalta valtakunnallinen tavoitetaso 20 % täyttyy. Lähiruokaa on tarjolla hyvin satunnaisesti. Haastateltavat eivät olleet pääosin tietoisia hankintalainsäädännön uudistuksesta eikä kansallisista lähiruoka- ja luomuohjelmista. Valtuuston jäsenet kokivat, ettei heillä ole vaikutusvaltaa ruokahankintoihin. Haastateltavat olivat eri mieltä siitä, voisiko Tuusulan kunta hankintalain puitteissa hyödyntää raaka-aineiden hankkimisessa luomua ja lähiruokaa. Ruokapalvelut ovat toistaiseksi itsenäisesti kehittäneet toimintaa haluamaansa suuntaan, eli kotimaisuusasteen nostamiseen. Enemmän luomua tai lähiruokaa voitaisiin tarjota kouluissa mikäli luomu- ja lähituottajien olemassaolosta ja tarjonnasta tiedettäisiin, kunnallista budjettia kasvatettaisiin sekä valtuustosta annettaisiin linjauspäätöksiä aiheeseen liittyen. Tutkimus lisäsi ymmärrystä lähiruoan ja luomun mahdollisuuksista kouluruokailussa. Tulokset ovat yhdensuuntaisia aikaisempien tutkimusten kanssa ja auttavat osaltaan kouluruoan kehittämisessä.

In this paper I address speeches held by the city councilors of Helsinki at the meeting held in February 2010. In the meeting it was taken a vote on the weekly vegetarian lunch day which was about to be carried out at schools and in the educational institutions. I identify the rhetorical methods and categories used by the councilors. Furthermore, I study the relation of public, in other words I examine to whom the delegates directed their speech to and what role that had to the progress of the discussion. The discussion in question woke plenty of stir and the discussion itself as well as the discussion on the Internet from the subject has been dealt with also in other dissertations. The material of the paper is a public recording transcribed by a city official. The discussion consisted of 56 speeches held by 36 councilors and it lasted altogether over two and half an hour. I established my report to the text classified by me with the help of the ATLAS.ti program. The research methods I used have a discourse analytic approach, which are a part of the field of the qualitative study. The examination of the public of the delegates' speech was based on the theory of Perelman (1996). I dealt with rhetorical methods based on Jokinen's (1999) theory. Pälli's (2003) constructionist theory of groups of people served as the base of the category analysis. The public the delegates spoke to were mostly other delegates on the hall and the residents of Helsinki. The audience councilors aimed their speech was thus very local. The use of rhetorical methods was extremely abundant and versatile. The categories used by the delegates from the people were distinctly purposeful. Delegates who have resisted the initiative genderized the question of nourishment presenting the boys' and men's nourishment which deviates from the opposite sex of the one needing. The differences between generations stood out clearly on the speeches. The delegates who had represented the opposite opinions dealt with different matters in their addresses when the supporters of the initiative paid plenty of attention to ecological points when the opponents concentrate on the individual freedom.

Finnish school food has a long tradition in Finland/is part of a long tradition in Finland. School food is a part of the school day of hundreds of thousands of Finnish children and adolescents. The purpose of school food is to improve and maintain the pupil's health, well-being and work efficiency. School lunch has an essential part of the basic function of school; this being teaching. The school's educational atmosphere has an effect on the functioning of school lunch, and this is why it is important to make sure that all staff members work together in this guiding process. The objectives of school food are not fulfilled if the food is not tasty. Objectives: In this case study the pupils' school lunch practices in Auran Yhtenäiskoulu are examined. The contentment of the pupils towards school food has been studied in order to improve school lunch practices. 1) Why do pupils leave food in the school cafeteria? 2) What are the favorite and non-favorite school foods in the menu? 3) What kind of wishes do the pupils have concerning school food? The material of the study was gathered in Auran Yhtenäiskoulu during the year of 2010 and the spring of 2014. 137 pupils took part in the research survey, and 18 pupils participated in testing the so-called empathizing methods. Methods: As a material method, a research survey and qualitative material were used. The survey research was executed with the help of a question form and the essays of the 9th grade pupils concerning their own empathizing opinions towards school food. Results and conclusions: According to the results, the majority of pupils have lunch at the school cafeteria every day. They are mainly happy with the school lunch, but they have wishes concerning the contents of the school lunch menu and its variability.

The idealized values of the media and especially social media are challenging to handle for a young person’s developing self-image and self-esteem. The ideal body featured in the media and its attempt to convey the “ideal lifestyle” can be harmful especially for children and young people. Eating disorders are common diseases and their growth is thought to be affected by social media. Children are already increasingly suffering from eating disorders that affect children's lives extensively. Eating disorders are serious and often long-term illnesses whose prognosis is improved by early intervention and treatment. Eating disorders affect younger and younger people, and therefore eating disorders are increasingly seen in comprehensive schools. Eating disorders affect children’s lives widely and also require the schools to take into account the special needs of those who fall ill and a wide range of special arrangements. The purpose of this study was to survey the experiences of people with eating disorders in comprehensive school about comprehensive school and studying there. The research material of the study consisted of six semi-structured thematic interviews conducted in october-november 2019. At the time of the interview, the interviewees were aged 19–39. The research material was analyzed by thematic analysis. The main themes of the interviews were the experiences of people with eating disorders with school health care, school meals, school sports, friendships and teachers. The interviewees' experiences of the mentioned themes varied widely, but for the most part, the memories of the comprehensive school period were quite negative. In the experiences of the interviewees, individual teachers and schoolmates came to the fore. Thus, individuals had had a major impact on how students with an eating disorder in comprehensive school had experienced their comprehensive school time. The main aim of this study is to provide information on how a student with an eating disorder may experience comprehensive school and how the specific features of the disease and the experiences of those affected can be taken into account at school. One of the most important findings is that in comprehensive school there is no ability to recognize eating disorders, except perhaps stereotypical anorexia. However, most people with an eating disorder suffer from something other than typical anorexia. In order to support a person with an eating disorder, the disease must be identified. Based on this study, experiences from comprehensive school are similar regardless of the type of eating disorder. It is very important to learn to consider the many forms of eating disorders so that the specifics of the disease can be considered in school.

Johdanto: Ruoan laadullisilla valinnoilla ja ateriarytmillä on mahdollista edistää tai heikentää lasten ja nuorten oppimista. Esimerkiksi verensokerinvaihtelun on todettu vaikuttavan kognitioon ja käyttäytymiseen (Benton 2002, Bellisle 2004). Säännöllisen ateriarytmin on katsottu edistävän koulumenestystä (Hye-Young ym. 2003). Yhä useammalta suomalaisnuorilta aamupala jää väliin (Räsänen 2004). Vain 13 % syö kouluaterian kokonaisuudessaan: pääruokaa, salaattia, leipää ja maitoa (Urho ja Hasunen 2004). Virvoitusjuoma- ja makeisautomaatteja on nykyisin monissa yläkouluissa, varsinaista välipalatarjoilua vain harvoissa. Tavoite: Tässä pro gradu -työssä tutkittiin yläkoululaisten ruokailua ja ateriarytmiä kouluviikon aikana sekä näiden mahdollista yhteyttä koulumenestykseen. Selvityksen tavoite oli tuottaa taustatietoa ja hypoteeseja jatkotutkimusta varten. Aineisto ja menetelmä: Tämä työ oli kvantitatiivinen poikkileikkaustutkimus, joka suoritettiin internet-pohjaisella kyselylomakkeella helmikuussa 2006. Selvitykseen osallistui 881 yläkoululaista yhdeksästä koulusta seitsemältä paikkakunnalta ympäri Suomea. Tulokset: Reilu kolmas nuorista ilmoitti jättävänsä yleensä yhden tai kaksi päivän ateriaa väliin. Aamupala jää väliin joka kuudennelta. Joka kolmas syö koululounaan enintään kolme kertaa viikossa. Nuorten koululounas on yksipuolistunut: pääruoan, leivän ja maidon nauttiminen lounaalla on vähentynyt verrattuna aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin (Urho ja Hasunen 1999, 2004). Suurin osa nuorten välipaloista oli terveellistä perusruokaa, lähinnä leipää, maitoa, mehua ja leivänpäällisiä. Poikkeuksen tekivät koulupäivän aikana nautitut välipalat. Nuorten yleisimmät koulupäivän aikaiset välipalat olivat makeiset ja virvoitusjuomat. Välipalat hankittiin useimmiten koulun automaateista tai koulun ulkopuolella sijaitsevasta kaupasta, kioskista tai huoltoasemalta. Kouluissa, jossa oli välipalatarjontaa, nuoret ostivat harvemmin makeisia ja virvoitusjuomia. Nuoret itse pitivät välipalatarjoilua ja vesipisteitä automaatteja ja kioskia tarpeellisempana kouluympäristössä. Lähes kaikki nuoret (89 %) ilmoittivat kärsineensä oireista kuten vatsakivuista, päänsärystä, huonosta olosta, ärtyisyydestä ja jännityksestä viimeisen viikon aikana. Yleisimpiä oireita olivat väsymys ja ärtyneisyys. Joka viides ilmoitti olevansa yleensä suurimman osan koulupäivää väsynyt, suurin osa ainakin jossain vaiheessa päivää. Ateriarytmin säännöllisyys ja kouluruokailu sekä elintavat kuten nukkuminen ja koettu terveyden tila olivat tilastollisesti merkitsevästi yhteydessä kuvattuihin oireisiin sekä koulumenestykseen. Tytöillä myös liikunnan harrastaminen ja aamupalan syöminen olivat tilastollisesti merkitsevästi yhteydessä koulumenestykseen. Johtopäätökset: Nuoret tekevät yhä useammin itsenäisesti valintoja ruoan ja ateriarytminsä suhteen. Kun nuoret ruokailevat yksin, mallioppimisen edut ja ravitsemussuositukset saattavat jäädä saavuttamatta. Koululounaan sisällön yksipuolistuminen, koulupäivän aikaisen välipalan laatu ja ateriatyyppien päällekkäisyys saattavat olla seurausta tästä. Säännöllinen ateriarytmi ja kouluruokailu olivat merkitsevästi yhteydessä sekä koulumenestykseen että stressinkaltaisten oireiden määrään.