What is it about?
Food literacy education is essential for helping students navigate today’s complex and ever-changing food system more wisely. This research identifies key components for food literacy curricula in secondary schools and examines how these components are currently integrated into the Sri Lankan curriculum.
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Why is it important?
Our study identifies the essential components that should be included in school curricula, evaluates the extent to which these components are currently covered, and examines how effectively Sri Lankan secondary school curricula foster students’ food literacy, including knowledge, skills, and practical decision-making abilities. This is important because curriculum quality directly influences adolescents’ dietary behaviours and long-term health outcomes in a context of rising NCDs and rapidly changing food environments. Key insights from our evaluation indicate that the current curricula contain substantial gaps in experiential, skills-based learning necessary for real-world food practices, and that delivery is further constrained by the optional status of food literacy–related subjects.
Perspectives
I hope this article helps readers see that food literacy education, often viewed as a simple or peripheral school subject is in fact a powerful and deeply relevant area that shapes young people’s lifelong health. The way we teach adolescents to choose, prepare, and understand food is not only an educational concern but a matter that affects every family and every community. More than anything, I hope this work encourages others to think critically and creatively about how school curricula can contribute to a healthier future generation.
Poornima Rathnayake
Wayamba University of Sri Lanka
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Evaluation of Sri Lankan secondary school food literacy curricula using a mixed-methods approach, Health Education, November 2025, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/he-07-2025-0110.
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