Exploring the workplace climate and culture in relation to food environment-related factors in Norwegian kindergartens: The BRA-study

Anne Himberg-Sundet; Anne Lene Kristiansen; Mekdes K Gebremariam; Thomas Moser; Lene Frost Andersen; Mona Bjelland; Nanna Lien

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225831

Exploring the workplace climate and culture in relation to food environment-related factors in Norwegian kindergartens: The BRA-study

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 2;14(12):e0225831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225831. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Anne Himberg-Sundet¹, Anne Lene Kristiansen¹, Mekdes K Gebremariam¹, Thomas Moser², Lene Frost Andersen¹, Mona Bjelland¹, Nanna Lien¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
² Department of Educational Science, Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Kindergartens represent an important arena for promoting vegetable intake when it is essential to establish healthy dietary behaviours early in life. To develop and implement successful interventions targeting dietary behaviours in kindergartens, a good understanding of the factors influencing their food environment and the interplay between these factors is essential. The present study aimed to explore associations between workplace climate and culture in the kindergarten setting and the staff's food-related practices, vegetables served and the possible mediating role of staff's food-related practices.

Method: Vegetables served, staff's food-related practices, and data on workplace climate and culture were collected using a 5-day, weighted, vegetable diary and three paper-based questionnaires. Seventy-three kindergartens in the Norwegian counties of Vestfold and Buskerud participated in the study. Spearman's rho was used to assess the association between workplace climate and culture, and staff's food-related practices and vegetables served. Mediation analyses were conducted to assess the mediating role of staff's food-related practices in the relationship between workplace climate and culture and vegetables served in this setting.

Results: There was one significant positive correlation between factors in the workplace climate and culture, and staff's food-related practices and vegetables served. The staff's food-related practices were found to mediate the association between support from superior and the variety of vegetables served. They also mediated the association between commitment to the organization and the frequency, as well as the variety, of vegetables served.

Conclusion: The results identified commitment to the organization and support from superior as two important factors in the workplace climate and culture. Furthermore, these two factors seems to be important to target when developing kindergarten-based interventions aimed at increasing the variety and frequency of vegetables served as they were associated with more favourable food-related practices among staff.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child, Preschool
Culture*
Diet*
Humans
Models, Theoretical
Norway
Schools*
Vegetables
Workplace*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway (228452/H10), with supplementary funds from the Throne Holst Nutrition Research Foundation, University of Oslo, Norway received by LFA and NL. The Research Council of Norway: https://www.forskningsradet.no/en/ Throne Holst Foundation: https://unifor.no/stiftelser/direktor-throne-holsts-fond-for-ernaeringsforskning/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.