Cross-cutting issues like nutrition have not been adequately addressed for children with severe visual impairment studying in integrated schools of Nepal. To support advocacy, this study aimed to determine the nutritional status of this vulnerable group, using a descriptive cross-sectional design involving 101 students aged 5–19 years from two integrated public schools near Kathmandu Valley and two in western Nepal. The weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and body mass index-for-age z-score (BAZ) were computed and categorised using World Health Organization cut-off values (overnutrition: z-score > +2.0 standard deviations (SD), healthy weight: z-score −2.0SD to +2.0SD, moderate undernutrition: z-score ≥ −3.0SD to <−2.0SD, severe undernutrition: z-score < −3.0 SD) to assess nutritional status. A child was considered to have undernutrition for any z-scores <−2.0SD. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse variables linked to undernutrition. The mean age of participants was 11.86 ± 3.66 years, and the male-to-female ratio was nearly 2:1. Among the participants, 71.29% had blindness, and 28.71% had low vision. The mean BAZ and HAZ scores decreased with age. The WAZ, HAZ, and BAZ scores indicated that 6.46% were underweight, 20.79% were stunted, and 5.94% were thin, respectively. Overall, 23.76% of students had undernutrition and 7.92% had overnutrition. More than three in ten students had malnutrition and stunting was found to be prevalent. Older students and females were more likely to have undernutrition. These findings highlight the need for nutrition interventions within inclusive education settings, particularly targeting girls with visual impairments who may face compounded vulnerabilities.

Globally, food waste from school lunch programmes varies considerably, ranging from 33 to 116 g/student/day, with vegetables the most wasted food category(2). In New Zealand, the Ka Ora Ka Ako school lunch programme provides free healthy lunches to schools whose communities face greater socio-economic barriers. The programme has been criticised with claims that large quantities of food is wasted, although there is no available data available to support these comments. The aim of this study was to measure the quantity and destinations of food waste from the Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme in Dunedin schools. A total of eight primary schools in Dunedin participated. At each school, data was collected over four days: the first day was an observation day and on the remaining three consecutive days food waste was measured. Equipment (e.g., measuring scales, buckets and containers) was used for direct weighing and to carry out the waste composition analysis (i.e., manually sorting waste by type). Data was recorded and analysed using Microsoft Excel software. School rolls ranged from 17 to 353 students. Across the seven schools, the total amount of food waste from leftovers was 5274 g/day, with a mean of 32 g/student/day. Destinations of food waste from leftovers varied, ranging from returning to the supplier to being disposed in school rubbish bins (to landfill). Using the Target, Measure, Act approach recommended for food waste, the ‘Target’ is to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030(2). This study contributes to the second step, which is to ‘Measure’ food waste. The findings from this study may be used for the third step, ‘Act’, to reduce food waste from the Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme, diverting this from landfill.

Children adopted from public care are more likely to experience mental health problems associated with their histories of early life adversity and instability, but few studies have investigated children’s mental health longitudinally across developmental turning points. We followed a sample of N = 92 UK domestically adopted children and their families at six time points over eight years post-placement (children’s ages ranged from 2 to 15 years). We used multilevel growth curve analysis to model time-related changes in children’s internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems and spline models to investigate patterns of change before and after school entry. Children’s internalizing symptoms followed a linear increasing trajectory, and externalizing problems followed a quadradic pattern where problems accelerated in early childhood and decelerated in late childhood. Spline models indicated an elevation in internalizing symptoms and externalizing problems as children started school. Internalizing symptoms continued to increase over time after school started and externalizing problems plateaued after the first years in school. Children adopted close in time to school entry displayed more problems when they started school. The transition to school represents a time of vulnerability for adopted children, especially for those who are adopted close in time to this transition, underscoring the need for ongoing support for their mental health across childhood.

This article uncovers the journey of a Nepal educator, poet, and writer who found inspiration in a Japanese philosopher's search for the self through love, care, happiness, and the “golden” moments of life. Nandu Uprety opened Kenji's International School to follow Miyazawa Kenji's philosophy of humanity, working for people experiencing poverty, developing society, and nurturing nature. This is not to say that Nandu Uprety did not face challenges, as he sold all his property for this school and never sought donations. Yet he adored the blooming flowers in the gardens, the echoes of Sirbuba, and the happiness in the children's smiles.

This article examines the intertwined history of local divination schools and divination instructors during the Yuan–Ming transition through a microhistory of the Zhu family—a diviner family who, as newcomers to Suzhou, carefully navigated the turbulent dynastic transition. Based on broader prosopographical research of Yuan and Ming divination school instructors, this study draws two main conclusions regarding social and institutional history during this crisis period. First, the Zhu family, representing lesser elites whose status depended on state institutions, survived the Yuan–Ming transition by building local networks, transforming their expertise, and manipulating narratives of their family history. Second, despite the Ming founder's order for the re-establishment of local divination schools, it was the diviner families, seeking to recover from the dynastic transition, who played a key role in restoring the local institution. This study extends our understanding of the scope of the fourteenth-century crisis, its diverse manifestations across social groups, and the manipulation of crisis narratives for various purposes. It also proposes a bottom-up approach to engage with the Yuan–Ming social and institutional continuity and rupture.

School food has a major influence on children’s diet quality and has the potential to reduce diet inequalities and non-communicable disease risk. Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, we have established a UK school food system network. The overarching aim was to build a community to work towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools. The network has brought together a team from a range of disciplines, while the inclusion of non-academic users and other stakeholders, such as pupils and parents, has allowed the co-development of research priorities and questions. This network has used a combination of workshops, working groups and pump-priming projects to explore the school food system, as well as creating a systems map of the UK school food system and conducting network analysis of the newly established network. Through understanding the current food system and building network expertise, we hope to advance research and policy around food in schools. Further funding has been achieved based on these findings, working in partnership with policymakers and schools, while a Nutrition Society Special Interest Group has been established to ensure maximum engagement and future sustainability of the network. This review will describe the key findings and progress to date based on the work of the network, as well as a summary of the current literature, identification of knowledge gaps and areas of debate, according to key elements of the school food system.

The local food environment plays an important role in food purchasing behaviours, and it is important to understand the how this context shapes the highly complex drivers of food choice for children and families. In Australia, children consume more than one-third of their total energy intake whilst at school(1), thus making the content of school lunchboxes an important target for nutrition promotion efforts. Supermarkets invest heavily in promoting food for inclusion in school lunchboxes, particularly in the ‘Back to School’ period, but little is known about the nutrition content or the packaging of the foods included in these promotions. This study aimed to examine the types and packaging of foods that are promoted by supermarkets as school lunchbox foods. Catalogues for six supermarket chains in Adelaide, South Australia were collected during the four weeks of January 2023, the window often described as the ‘Back to School’ period. An audit of the contents was conducted and items promoted specifically as ‘Back to School’ items were coded according to the type of food (fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains/cereals, protein or drinks), whether the items was packaged or unpackaged and the processing classification according to the NOVA criteria(2). Descriptive statistics were calculated. In the ‘Back to School’ period, each of the six supermarket chains produced 4 catalogues and items relating specifically to foods promoted for inclusion in school lunchboxes appeared in 18 of the 24 catalogues. A total of 151 food or drink items appeared in the ‘Back to School’ promotions in these catalogues, and 100% of these items were packaged; 29% were packaged in single-use plastic packaging, 25% were packaged in recyclable packaging and 46% were packaged in a combination of single-use plastic and recyclable packaging. In terms of foods, snack foods, including sweet (n = 32, 21%) and savoury (n = 21, 14%) snacks were highly represented (35% overall). Dairy products (n = 23, 15%), grains/cereal products (n = 23, 15%) and drinks (n = 20, 13%) were also featured, and spreads (e.g. vegemite, Nutella) appeared in 13% of catalogues (n = 12). Fruits (n = 8, 5%), vegetables (n = 3, 2%) and proteins (n = 5, 3%) did not appear in many catalogues. Seventeen (11%) foods were unprocessed, with 111 (74%) classified as ultra-processed foods. Supermarket catalogues promote ‘Back to School’ lunchbox foods that are overwhelmingly packaged and ultra-processed. Working with supermarkets to adapt the promotion of foods that are less packaged and less processed is an important step to improving the local food environment.