Analysis of the lunch boxes of children between 1 and 10 years of age in an early childhood education school

The school has an important role in nutritional education since nutrition at this stage has significant impacts on the development and formation of children's eating habits. Studies reveal high consumption of ultra-processed foods and sweetened beverages by children, which can compromise their...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Costa, Mariah Meireles, Souza, Marcio Leandro Ribeiro de
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:Brasil
Recursos:Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino e Pesquisa em Fisiologia do Exercício (IBPEFEX)
Repositorio:Revista brasileira de obesidade, nutrição e emagrecimento
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.www.rbone.com.br:article/2577
Acesso em linha:https://www.rbone.com.br/index.php/rbone/article/view/2577
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Nutrition education
Nutritional transition
Obesity
Lunch boxes
Infant feeding
Educación nutricional
Obesidad
Nutrición infantil
Transición nutricional
Loncheras
Educazione alimentare
Transizione alimentare
Obesità
Lunch box
Nutrizione infantile
Educação nutricional
Transição nutricional
Obesidade
Lancheiras
Alimentação infantil
Descrição
Resumo:The school has an important role in nutritional education since nutrition at this stage has significant impacts on the development and formation of children's eating habits. Studies reveal high consumption of ultra-processed foods and sweetened beverages by children, which can compromise their health and obesity. Therefore, the objective was to analyze the quality of food present in the lunch boxes of early childhood education students at a private school in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The lunch boxes of 59 students, aged between 1 and 10 years old, were evaluated on three non-consecutive days. The foods present were grouped into pre-defined food groups for analysis. The presence of food was also evaluated in accordance with the definition of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. A high consumption of fruits and natural juices, dairy products, bread, biscuits, or cookies was observed, but a high consumption of artificial juices was also observed. Likewise, there was a low consumption of vegetables, legumes, and nuts. Furthermore, some children took foods that were contraindicated by the guide in their school lunch, such as soft drinks, sweets, stuffed biscuits, among others. Furthermore, the presence of fresh or minimally processed foods was also observed in 98.3% of the lunch boxes, processed foods in 100% and ultra-processed foods in 93.2% of the sample. Therefore, this research identified high levels of consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods, which requires attention, making nutritional education with children and their families important.