Survey On The Hygiene Of The Rural School Cafeterias In The Middle And Western Regions Of China

School is the place that children and adolescent study and make activities in it. During the development of body and mind, their growths are liable to be influenced by the school ambiance, just as education course, construction, nutrition, physical training and working exercises, etc. Food hygiene in school is association with health of students and teachers. It is essential to keep teaching in order and also a hot topic of society.Because of relatively unchangeable clients and great amount of food supplements in school cafeterias, it is more possible to lead collective food poisoning. School food poisoning occurred constantly in recent years, especially in rural schools. Besides, potential risk of food poisoning may exist in schools, as a result of low economic level and lacking sanitation in the rural area of the middle and western regions. With the combination of small rural schools and the increase of boarding schools, the number of students for food service in schools will be bigger and bigger. But now, most researches on food hygiene were focused on schools in one district of the middle and eastern regions.Objective1) To investigate hygienic situation of rural school cafeterias and the implementation of regulation about school collective meals;2) To provide evidence for making related regulations or criterions and to ensure students having safe and healthy food;3) To put forward suggestions for managers to improve their management and provide policy recommendations for health supervision department.MethodsBy stratified sampling method, 72 rural schools (including elementary schools, middle schools and high schools) were sampled. These schools located on some counties and cities which economic level was in middle of six middle and western provinces (Chongqing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Jilin, Hubei). Hygiene condition of school cafeterias were investigated by self-designed questionnaire, and some cafeteria staffs, students and teachers were selected and investigated by questionnaires. After being sorted, collected data would be analyzed by Chi-square test, rank sum test and other methods with SPSS11.5.Results1) The 61 investigated school cafeterias had many defects in building, sanitary equipment and hygienic condition. There were no significant differences among schools of different classes.2) Health supervisory quantity grade showed, there were significant differences between schools in county and in countryside, and there were no significant differences among schools of other classes.3) Most cafeteria staffs were floating people. We observed most food handlers in the field did not wear clean union suit or restrain hair in hat, and had poor personal hygiene practices such as inadequate hand washing. Their questionnaires also showed they did not master enough professional knowledge.4) The hygienic condition was related to attitude of school directors and managers, they did not know the policies and statutes of cafeteria hygiene management well.5) The management patterns of cafeterias have transferred from school management to multiple styles coexisting. Some school cafeterias were managed by school; some were contracted by other collectives or individuals.6) More than a half of teachers and students were satisfied with the cafeteria hygiene, but they also put forward some problems and suggestions.ConclusionThe hygienic and sanitary situation of the rural school's cafeterias in western and middle regions of China was not satisfied. School leaders did not have a strong sense of food hygiene and safety. Cafeteria workers did not master enough professional knowledge. Teachers and students were looking forward to better foodservice. Therefore, we advance several suggestions as follow:1. The government should increase investment to rural schools in the middle and western regions and set up school cafeteria special fund. More efforts should be made to improve school cafeteria hygiene and make sure to construct new regular cafeterias.2. More attention should be paid to this issue and related regulations based on their own characteristics should be discussed. The education development should make different criterion according to the actual status of the rural schools in the middle and western regions. 3. The health department should make plan to train cafeteria staffs and improve their capability. The food hygienic rules and food hygienic knowledge should be a part of training contents.4. The health department should also provide trainings for school leaders to enhance their senses of hygiene.5. With socialization of school logistics, school cafeterias should be supervised at different frequencies according to the different classes, and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) should be used in supervision, so the function of self-management will be developed.6. School students should be educated about food safety and food nutrition. The school foodservice would not only enhance student satisfaction, but also provide nutritional food to keep them healthy.