Abstract

ARAUJO, Sandra Rodrigues et al. School portions accomplishment in Viana do Castelo district: Evaluation 2009/2012. Rev. Port. Sau. Pub. [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.2, pp.148-156. ISSN 0870-9025.

Introdution: The school lunch, being one of the main meals of the daily children and young people food intake, plays a very important role in the contribution of their energetic and nutritional needs, as well as in the development of food behaviours and healthy life styles. The Project of Optimization of School Diets (Projeto de Otimização das Dietas Escolares-P0DE) intends to act in the schools of the Viana do Castelo district with the objective of ensuring the offer of varied and nutritionally balanced meals. Aim: The purpose of this work is to evaluate the accomplishment of the portions established by the P0DE in the schools that joined the project, using data that refer to three school years. Methodology: 323 meals provided in nine schools have been analysed, proceeding to the calculation of the relative deviation between the quantities of food portions offered to the children and the quantities established by the P0DE. Results: The results showed a deficit in the supply of fish and vegetables, as well as an oversupply of meat, cereals and cereals products, potato and pulses, added salt and added fat in the dish. Concerning the mean deviation of the full meal to the reference (RMSD), significant statistical differences between several types of menus, preparation methods and schools were found. Conclusions: This work shows that the simple definition of portions doesn't ensure the appropriate nutritional contribution of meals, thus being crucial a continuous monitoring

Keywords : Children; Accomplishment of Portions; Young; School meals.

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