Avaliação qualitativa dos cardápios fornecidos nas escolas públicas municipais de um município de pequeno porte da Paraíba pelo método AQPC.

Abstract

The offer of a nutritionally balanced diet in the school environment is fundamental to assist in proper growth and development of children and teenagers as well as contribute to develop healthier eating habits. In this way, the school must ensure that all students have food and nutrition security and also act in the prevention of chronic diseases. The objective of this study is evaluating qualitatively the menus provided in the public schools of a small city in Paraíba. An exploratory research in qualitative, descriptive and transversal character, whose analytical tools were the lunch menus provided in May and June 2015 was performed. The analysis was done by the method of Qualitative Evaluation of Menu Preparations (AQCP), which identifies the absolute and relative frequency of daily supply of leafy, fruit, color repetition, presence of sulfur-rich foods, fatty meat, fried foods, sweet, sweet associated with frying and repetitions of the main course. It was found the absence of leafy and monotony of colors of preparations in every day assessed; regular supply (50%) of fruit, very bad supply (85%) and bad (70%) of foods high in sulfur and preparations with fatty meats, respectively; regular supply of fried foods (50%) and sweets served as dessert (45%), combined with a good offer of sweet associated with frying (15%) and repetition of the main dishes (10%). The conclusion is that the menus provided to students presented a nutritional imbalance. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the planning of menus offered to schools by conducting periodic reviews to check possible inadequacies and replace them with food offerings that aim to stimulate the consumption of different food groups among children and adolescents, increasing the diversity of preparations and making menus more attractive to students.