Commercialization of food in school canteens

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the commercialization of food in commercial canteens located in the school environment of different educational networks, types of administration and presence of technical professional (nutritionist). The observational study was carried out in 111 canteens, of which 35 were private schools and 76 were public schools in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. To carry out these evaluations, a checklist containing a set of pipelines based on the state legislations of Paraná was prepared. According to current legislation, it was found that 97.37% of the canteens in public institutions and 94.29% of the private ones marketed foods considered banned because of their low nutritional value. The main prohibited foods marketed in the canteens were the industrialized snacks, the chocolates, the bullets and the artificial juices. These were also the best-selling foods and beverages, according to those responsible. In addition, 73.87% of the canteens did not have technical supervision, 89.19% did not provide two types of fruit and only 1.80% had an educational wall, as required by current legislation. It is concluded that canteens, regardless of the teaching network and type of administration, are in disagreement with the current legislation, both in the marketing of prohibited foods and in the absence of two types of fruit and in the absence of education mural. The results showed that frequent supervision of the technician is necessary to contribute to the choices of commercialized food and, consequently, to improve the nutritional quality of products offered for sale.

Keywords:
School feeding; Food; Food legislation; Product commerce; Child development; Commerce; Students