Criteria adopted for school menu planning within the framework of the Brazilian School Feeding Program

• Autor(a) principal: Uliana BIANCHINI, Vitória
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Secchi MARTINELLI, Suellen, SOARES, Panmela, Karen FABRI, Rafaela, Barletto CAVALLI, Suzi
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/7510
• topic: Menu planning; Nutrition Programs; School feeding

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the main criteria used by nutritionists to plan school menus within the framework of the Brazilian National School Feeding Program. MethodsNutritionists from 21 municipalities in Southern Brazil were interviewed. Municipalities had between 20,000 and 70,000 inhabitants and were located in different mesoregions. Data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire and subjected to content analysis using NVivo® software. ResultsSixteen criteria were identified, grouped into four categories: (1) food habits, culture, and acceptance; (2) nutritional characteristics; (3) food availability; and (4) management and execution. Brazilian National School Feeding Program regulations were recurrently cited within all identified categories, which demonstrates the influence of the program on nutritionists’ activities. ConclusionBrazilian National School Feeding Program regulatory guidelines for the development of school menus seem to influence the decision making of nutritionists. However, food purchase from family farms and calculation of meal nutritional value seem to be incipient criteria.