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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1430852

Diversity and Practice: Local Decision-Making Practices on Multi-Cultural Diets for British Muslim School Children (BMSC) and Implications for Social Justice

Provisionally accepted
Zeibeda Sattar Zeibeda Sattar *Susan M. Carr Susan M. Carr Lydia Lochhead Lydia Lochhead Greta M. Defeyter Greta M. Defeyter
  • Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    British Muslim School Children (BMSC) are required to follow special halal dietary requirements in accordance with their religion, with this often not accounted for in British schools. This often leaves BMSC limited to a vegetarian diet whilst at school despite this not being their chosen diet or preference. This study explores the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding fairness and accessibility of school meals for BMSC, as well as discussing school food provision for those maintaining a religion diet in light of social justice. This is in the context of limited knowledge previously being explored in the North East of England regarding the procurement and decision making at a systems level to cater for BMSC.A qualitative research design was conducted. A total of 62 participants (39 BMSC, 15 parents, and 8 school and catering staff) took part in a semi-structured interview or focus group. Participants were recruited from six schools, with these schools selected based on their differing levels of BMSC in attendance. This project took place between March 2022 to October 2023.Results suggested that where schools already catered for diverse food requirements inclusive of BMSC dietary needs, food choices were still limited in the options and amount available. School and catering staff stated that cost implications contributed to their menu development process. Despite this, there was an evident willingness to learn about the cultural food options and how these can be implemented in future school menus. Suggestions discussed included an increase of the use of halal meat in order to provide a more inclusive school food experience for BMSC.

    Keywords: school meals1, halal2, food caterers3, decision makers4, cultural and religious foods5

    Received: 10 May 2024; Accepted: 24 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sattar, Carr, Lochhead and Defeyter. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zeibeda Sattar, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.