Avaliação qualitativa das preparações de cardápios ofertados em uma escola da rede pública de ensino do município de Jaçanã, Rio Grande do Norte.

Abstract

Bearing in mind that during childhood and adolescence, food is essential for growth and development and may be one of the main factors in the prevention of some non-communicable chronic diseases. The school environment plays an important role in encouraging this type of diet, promoting healthy eating habits and contributing to the performance and learning of students. Thus, the study aims to evaluate the quality of the preparations of the menus offered through the Qualitative Assessment of School Menu Preparations method (AQPC School) in a public school in Jaçanã, Rio Grande do Norte. This is a cross-sectional, observational study, with procedures from a documentary research. Therefore, the menu preparation items were divided into two categories: recommended foods (beneficial to health) and controlled foods (those that may induce risk the health). After checking the frequency, the data were converted into percentages. The percentages of the recommended items should be at levels higher than the controlled one, and the latter should not exceed the recommended percentage of the method. In view of this, it was found that percentages above 20% were found for “controlled” foods, especially in preparations with sugar or products with added sugar and concentrated, powdered or dehydrated foods, and low values for some classes of “recommended” foods. , such as fresh fruits, non-starchy vegetables and legumes and 0% for whole foods and salads. Therefore, the results obtained serve as a basis for readjustments in the supply of food for students, thus improving the quality of school meals, efficiently meeting the needs of students.