Issue 1: June 2026

Promoting sustainable dietary choices is a public health priority. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a nutrition education intervention using the KIDMED index among Moroccan adolescents. A before-and-after intervention study was conducted among adolescents aged 14–18 years. Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, anthropometric and dietary data were collected at baseline and adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed before and after the intervention using the KIDMED index. Gender differences were observed for some anthropometric parameters, with more pronounced central adiposity in girls. The mean KIDMED score increased significantly after the educational intervention (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study suggests that nutrition education can improve adherence to the Mediterranean diet among Moroccan adolescents, even in a socioeconomically disadvantaged context. These findings support the development of locally adapted nutrition education programmes.

Sustainability is a major public health and environmental issue today. The Mediterranean diet, recognised for its health benefits and its compatibility with sustainability principles, offers a relevant model for promoting responsible eating habits in which healthcare professionals can play a key role. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a nutrition education programme focused on the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet on the knowledge, perceptions and eating habits of nursing students. An educational intervention was conducted with nursing students (mean age 20.65 ± 2.01 years, range 18–30) at the ISPITS in Safi, using a participatory and contextualised approach. The evaluation was based on a Knowledge-Attitudes-Practices (KAP) questionnaire administered before and after the intervention. The data obtained were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to measure changes in cognitive, perceptual and behavioral dimensions. The results revealed a clear increase in knowledge and perceptions regarding food sustainability, while the observed behavioural changes, although positive, remain more limited. Nutrition education based on adherence to the Mediterranean diet appears to be an effective educational tool in nursing training for promoting sustainable eating. Such an approach can contribute to the transition towards more equitable food systems that respect health and the environment.

The Mediterranean diet is a sustainable dietary model, but its adoption remains limited among adolescents in Morocco. Food waste, particularly of certain staple foods of this diet, is common within this population. This study aimed to analyse dietary habits and evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on food waste among school-aged adolescents. Data on dietary habits, adoption of Mediterranean diet and frequency of food waste were collected from a sample of 200 school-aged Moroccan adolescents (40% boys, 60% girls). Awareness-raising workshops were then organised to encourage better practices. The analysis revealed that only 40% of adolescents adopted the Mediterranean diet and that 60% frequently wasted food, primarily bread (43.7%) and fruits and vegetables. The wasting of food took place several times a week, often due to lack of appetite, or overly large portions. Following the educational intervention, a significant decrease in food waste was observed for all food categories, with a particularly marked reduction for bread (from 150 to 10 g/student/day) and a complete elimination of dairy waste (from 90 to 0 g/student/day). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that targeted educational interventions can effectively reduce food waste and promote sustainable eating habits among adolescents.

This study involved the development, implementation and evaluation of the InSajru Aħjar, Nieklu Aħjar (Cooking Better, Eating Better) SANA programme, a six-week experiential culinary and nutrition education intervention designed to support adults transitioning from structured obesity treatment to independent living. A mixed-methods randomised-control trial was conducted in Malta, with an intervention group (IG, n=12) and a control group (CG, n=9). Pre-post questionnaires assessed cooking and nutrition knowledge, food preparation practices, self-efficacy, self-control and the home food environment. Focus group discussions provided greater insights. Compared with the CG, IG participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in healthy food preparation and cooking knowledge (p = .002), food preparation, cooking and eating practices (p = .02), shopping self-efficacy (p = .016), cooking self-efficacy (p = .007), self-control in healthy eating behaviours (p = .004) and availability of prepared vegetables ready for consumption (p < .022). Gains were also observed in specific behaviours, including meal planning, preparing meals from basic ingredients, avoiding highly processed foods and consuming vegetables and fruit more regularly. Qualitative findings highlighted increased confidence in food choice, improved cooking skills and enjoyment of healthy food preparation. Despite persistent barriers, such as emotional eating, food costs and family preferences, the SANA programme effectively enhanced food literacy, self-efficacy and sustainable healthy eating practices.

Research indicates that children’s involvement in meal preparation is linked to healthier dietary patterns; however, evidence on its long-term impact on adolescence remains limited. This article addresses this gap by adopting a retrospective mixed-methods design to examine the association between childhood involvement in meal planning and preparation (MPP) and later dietary habits and food appreciation among Maltese adolescents aged 13–15 years. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 100 adolescents, followed by a focus group interview (FGI) with seven adolescents to further explore emerging themes. Findings show that early involvement in MPP is positively associated with healthier eating behaviours in adolescence. Over half of participants (53.5%) reported a positive influence on their eating habits, including increased vegetable and fruit consumption (63.9%), greater food and health awareness (58.3%) and improved kitchen confidence (47.2%). Qualitative findings supported these results, highlighting enhanced food appreciation, enjoyment and confidence. Overall, sustained engagement in MPP, supported by food and nutrition knowledge, appears to foster self-efficacy and healthier dietary choices. These findings highlight the importance of introducing Home Economics (HE) education at the primary level and making it compulsory throughout secondary schooling to promote long-term healthy eating behaviours.

This study seeks to study some socio economic and behavioural variables associated with Household Food Consumption Expenditure in Alexandria. A quantitative study was conducted on a simple random sample of 150 housewives who frequented non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Data were collected by using a questionnaire through personal interview and analysed statistically using (SPSS V.22). Results indicate statistically significant relationships between the percentage of household spending on food and several socio-economic variables. The regression model explains 26.1% of the variation in food expenditure share (R² = 0.261), with a statistically significant F value, indicating acceptable explanatory power. The regression analysis confirms that monthly income is the most significant determinant of the proportion of income spent on food, with higher income associated with a lower expenditure share. Monthly income shows a significant negative association with food expenditure share, suggesting that as income increases, the proportion of income allocated to food declines, consistent with Engel’s law. Other variables such as age, education and family size show partial or indirect relationships. Behavioural factors, such as consumption rationalisation and purchasing motives, remain underdeveloped limiting households’ ability to optimise their resource use and management. Recommendations include developing and delivering specialised training and guidance programmes in rational consumption and financial management across all aspects of daily life through targeted Home Economics programmes.

Sustainable development is a key educational goal, particularly in disciplines that integrate practical life skills, such as Home Economics. This study examined pre-service teachers enrolled in Home Economics and Primary Education programmes at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, focusing on the perceived role of environmental education and environmental awareness among students and staff within a larger framework of sustainability. Data were collected through an online questionnaire completed by 97 pre-service teachers. The results showed relatively frequent engagement in routine sustainable behaviours, such as waste separation, saving paper towels and reducing food waste; while more resource-dependent behaviours, such as using public transport, were less consistently practised. Participants perceived environmental education as similarly influential on both their attitudes towards sustainable development and their own sustainable behaviour. In addition, faculty staff were perceived as more environmentally aware than students. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening environmental awareness during teacher education, as it supports the development of attitudes and behaviours relevant to sustainability-oriented Home Economics education. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the use of a non-probability sample from a single institution and self-report measures.

Home Economics (HE) education is increasingly recognised as a vehicle for promoting wellbeing, sustainability, responsible citizenship and the practical competencies required for everyday life. This study explored Maltese HE educators’ perspectives on the relevance, employability preparation, status, curriculum content, pedagogical approaches and future direction of HE education within the context of contemporary societal challenges and the OECD’s Education for Human Flourishing framework. An online survey was conducted with 34 HE educators, including practising teachers and student teachers. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis. Findings revealed strong consensus regarding the relevance of HE education to both the current and future needs of learners, particularly in relation to health, nutrition, financial literacy, consumer education, sustainability and family wellbeing. Educators favoured active, experiential and inquiry-based pedagogies, but identified curriculum overload, limited resources and persistent misconceptions about the subject as significant challenges. Although respondents viewed HE as highly valuable, they perceived its status within schools and Maltese society as relatively low. They advocated for curriculum renewal through updated content addressing food literacy, mental wellbeing, digital literacy, sustainability and adult life skills, alongside increased opportunities for practical learning. The study proposes a teacher-informed roadmap for renewing HE education in Malta through curriculum innovation, structural support, policy advocacy, enhanced marketing and alignment with broader educational goals centred on human and planetary flourishing.

This study explores gender issues in the development of Home Economics in Malta, within the context of a traditionally patriarchal and Catholic society. It examines the historical and cultural forces that shaped these subjects as female-dominated domains and the subsequent efforts to address gender bias. The main objective was to investigate how gender roles have influenced the perception, teaching and curriculum of Home Economics, including Textiles Studies, and to evaluate policy shifts aimed at creating more inclusive educational environments. A multi-dimensional qualitative research design was employed, drawing on documentary analysis, interviews with educators and examination of policy and curriculum documents. Thematic analysis was used to interpret narratives from past and present stakeholders in the education system. Findings reveal a deep-rooted gender bias in curriculum content and subject accessibility, with Home Economics traditionally reserved for girls. Despite reforms, perceptions of the subject as 'feminine' persist, and male students and teachers continue to face stereotyping. While significant strides have been made towards gender inclusivity, Home Economics remains gender-intensive; that is, it continues to be strongly associated with one gender due to historically embedded cultural norms, patterns of participation, and curricular meanings. Greater curricular reform and cultural change are needed to foster inclusivity and redefine the subjects’ social and vocational value.

This review explores the Home Economics Seminar Centre (HESC) as a long-standing component of the Maltese education system, focusing on its contribution to transdisciplinary learning that connects educational, social and policy contexts, as well as is contribution to community engagement. Drawing on its historical development and current practices, the review examines the evolution of the HESC from its establishment to its present role within the Directorate for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Vocational Education and Training (VET) Programmes. It shows how the HESC has aligned experiential and inquiry-based pedagogies with national priorities related to health, sustainability, financial capability, inclusion and lifelong learning. The discussion highlights how Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)-informed approaches, cooperative learning, and multiple literacies are embedded in authentic learning contexts. It also examines the HESC’s engagement with stakeholders, illustrating how learning is strengthened when classroom practice is linked to wider societal and policy frameworks. Overall, the review positions the HESC as an example of how Home Economics can support wellbeing, equity, and responsible citizenship. It offers a contextually grounded account of real-world-oriented education, with implications for curriculum implementation and policy–practice alignment.

This study set out to explore the linguistic landscape of the University of Malta (UM), in order to find out: (i) To what extent, and in what ways, the linguistic landscape of the Msida campus is aligned with the official language policy of the UM, and (ii) What is the composition of the LL that future teachers are exposed to while studying at UM. The analysis is based on a data set of 2956 photographs consisting of advertisements, notices and other signs, taken inside and outside most of the buildings and open spaces at the Msida campus. The data is presented according to (i) its physical location, (ii) the visibility of languages, and (iii) the type of signs. The results show that although the UM’s language policy and guidelines promote the Maltese language, an average of 92% of the signs are in English, irrespective of whether they are official or unofficial. The paper ends with recommendations so that the LL on campus can provide a more culturally and linguistically appropriate milieu especially one that prepares student teachers for a teaching career in a multilingual and multicultural school environment.

The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has intensified questions about how students develop informed and responsible relationships with algorithmic systems. While existing research has largely focused on teachers as adopters or users of AI technologies, far less attention has been given to teachers’ role in guiding students’ engagement with these systems. This literature review examines how teachers contribute to the development of digital trust in AI-mediated learning environments. Digital trust is conceptualised as the capacity to make informed, critical, and context-sensitive judgements about when and how AI systems should be relied upon. The review synthesises research across three interconnected areas: conceptualisations of digital trust, teachers’ mediating practices in AI-supported learning, and the factors shaping teachers’ own trust in AI technologies. It further examines systemic constraints on teachers’ capacity to perform this mediating role, including gaps in professional preparation and governance frameworks. The Maltese educational context is analysed as a case study illustrating how policy ambition, curriculum reform, and teacher capacity-building interact in practice. The article argues that preparing young people for AI-saturated knowledge environments requires recognising teachers as central mediators of digital trust rather than merely users of educational technologies.

This paper examines the persistence of gender inequality and the motherhood penalty in higher education institutions (HEIs), focusing on Malta within an international comparative perspective. Drawing on feminist institutionalism and institutional ethnography, it explores how formal family-friendly policies interact with cultural expectations and institutional norms to shape career outcomes for both academic and support staff. Comparative evidence demonstrates that while Nordic countries have mitigated the motherhood penalty through supportive policies and more egalitarian cultural norms, Anglo-Saxon and Central and Eastern European systems continue to reproduce significant inequalities due to the gendered uptake of flexible work arrangements, limited childcare provision, and persistent expectations surrounding maternal caregiving. The Maltese case illustrates how small-state and Southern European contexts reproduce and intensify these dynamics. Although policies such as flexible working arrangements and parental leave formally exist, their uptake remains highly gendered: men rarely utilise them, while women who do often experience stalled career progression and reduced opportunities for advancement. At the same time, the entrenched ideal of the “ideal academic” or “ideal worker,” characterised by uninterrupted availability and productivity, continues to marginalise caregivers. By extending the analysis to both academic and support staff, the paper demonstrates how occupational segregation and the devaluation of feminised labour sustain systemic inequalities across institutional structures. Crucially, the paper argues that Malta should not be viewed merely as another national example, but rather as an intensified small-state case that exposes the structural limitations of policy-led equality models. The motherhood penalty is shown to emerge not only from policy gaps, but also from institutional valuation systems that privilege uninterrupted, research-intensive career trajectories over relational, administrative, and care-oriented labour. Conceptually, the paper advances a model in which the motherhood penalty emerges through the interaction of three mutually reinforcing systems: policy design, cultural norms, and institutional valuation structures. It concludes that genuine gender equity in higher education requires not only policy reform, but also deeper cultural and institutional transformation capable of redefining academic success and challenging gendered assumptions surrounding care and productivity.

In 2006, The Act to Amend the Education Act Cap. 327 (Laws of Malta, 2006) made provisions to sustain and augment the then-existing school-parent partnership. This study examines the current partnership between schools and parents in two Maltese State Colleges and the perceived challenges to nurturing, enriching, and sustaining collaboration between the schools and the parent community. The history of Education in Malta reveals a pattern of fragmented initiatives between schools and parents. For example, the establishment of the College Board of Governors, a tenet of the aforementioned Act, was never implemented after its enactment and is not even mentioned in the Education Act, CAP 605, ACT XXIX of 2019 (Laws of Malta, 2022). The data were collected through questionnaires administered to teachers and parents. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to recruit participants. We explored educators’ and parents’ positions on parental involvement and participation in their children's education, as well as the issues and challenges they encountered in sustaining such partnerships. The study seeks to advance understanding of these issues and challenges and to propose a way forward to address the missing link in the structure contemplated by the 2006 and 2019 Acts.

This article examines the disproportionate demand for language instruction at Blue Door Education (BDE), a Maltese non-governmental organisation (NGO) where displaced and marginalised adult learners overwhelmingly prioritise English over Maltese, despite the country’s official bilingual status and Maltese being the national popular language. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theories of “linguistic market” and “symbolic violence”, the author argues that this preference is a rational reaction to a neoliberal economic climate that positions English as the language required for market-driven economic survival and essential for employment, while Maltese, despite being the mother tongue, is commonly seen by outsiders as having a narrow practical reach beyond national identity in a small state, and therefore a “cultural bonus”. Through practitioner observation and lived-experience narratives, this essay highlights how migrants are discouraged from learning the Maltese language, be it by racialised gatekeeping in the public sphere, or institutionalised censorship in the workplace. By critiquing the “deficit model” of integration, which blames the learner for systematic failures, this essay advocates for a shift from functional “lifelong learning” to a more transformative educational framework via Freire’s (2000) approach, making migrant voices pivotal to dismantling structural barriers to true social belonging in Malta.

This qualitative study examines linguistic mediation as a professional and institutional practice within migration contexts, drawing on narrative data from a university-based mediation training initiative in Malta. While mediation is often framed as a neutral communicative tool that promotes empathy and inclusion, this study adopts a critical perspective, situating mediation within broader regimes of migration governance. Using thematic analysis of narrative data generated by public service professionals (n = 10), the study explores how participants reinterpret communication, authority, and engagement with migrants following structured, case-based pedagogical intervention. Findings indicate that mediation practices foster clarity, relationality, and professional reflexivity; however, these shifts may also function as forms of soft governance, rearticulating rather than transforming institutional power (Fassin, 2013; Foucault, 1991; Mezzadra & Neilson, 2019). The Maltese case illustrates how mediation can simultaneously enable inclusion and reinforce state frameworks of control. This study contributes to scholarship on intercultural communication, language policy, and migration governance by critically examining mediation as both a pedagogical and governance technology, while documenting how a structured professional training initiative can reframe institutional authority through the twin imperatives of empathy and civic responsibility.