Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Dairy Consumption among School-Age Children: A Qualitative Study

Background: To improve dairy consumption among children, it is crucial to explore probable barriers and facilitators toward it. The current qualitative study aims to discover barriers and facilitators of dairy intake among school-age children in Tehran to suggest strategies to improve it based on the optimal components of social marketing. Methods: In a qualitative study, 111 school-age children (mean age 10.08±0.57 years) were selected by purposive sampling with maximum diversity from primary schools in three areas of Tehran. Sixteen focus group discussions (FGDs) were separately conducted among students in different grades. Contents of the FGDs were analyzed using MAXQDA 2010. Results: Food and nutrition literacy, improvement of attitude and trust-building, training taste and food preferences were the main facilitators to increase dairy products among school-age children. Barriers related to dairy products consumption included negative attitudes toward dairy products, unsound tastes, and unhealthy food preferences. The main suggested strategies to increase dairy consumption were improvement of the products' sensory and non-sensory characteristics, providing the milk and dairy products consumption experience for free, improvement of the quality of preserving places, enhancing physical and economic availability of dairy products. Dairy stores and school buffets were mentioned as the best places for supply. Encouragement and motivation, education and information, modeling and promoting appropriate culture were suggested as the main promotion strategies. Conclusion: To provide practical strategies for increasing dairy consumption among children, the perceived barriers and facilitators mentioned by them should be addressed.