Abstract

ALEMAN-CASTILLO, Sanjuana Elizabeth; CASTILLO-RUIZ, Octelina; BACARDI-GASCON, Montserrat  and  JIMENEZ-CRUZ, Arturo. Lunch box contents of elementary school children in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. CienciaUAT [online]. 2019, vol.14, n.1, pp.61-70.  Epub Aug 03, 2020. ISSN 2007-7858.  https://doi.org/10.29059/cienciauat.v14i1.1268.

School lunch supplements children’s dailydiet and may pose a risk of obesity if they are prepared based on processed foods high in sugar, salt and fat. The aim of this study was to identify the content of lunch packs, as well as the nutritional status of scholars from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. To that aim, a descriptive and transversal study was conducted. We worked with 769 children from 12 public elementary schools. Students’ size and weight were taken. The contents of their lunch packs were recorded for one week by direct observation through a checklist. 44.7 % of school children were overweight or obese. The foods contained in the lunch packs were sandwich (50.0 %), tacos (29.5 %) and big sandwich (14.5 %). Sugary drinks included juice (44 %) and flavored water (38.2 %). They also contained fruits (18.8 %), vegetables (13.5 %) and water (31.6 %). On average, the energy content was 327 kcal. Therefore, they exceeded the calorie recommendation and included unhealthy foods (high content of sugar and fat in relation to their nutritional contribution). This suggests the need to implement nutrition education intervention programs to promote the consumption of drinking water and healthy foods within the school environment to improve the quality of eating habits.

Keywords : school lunch-packs; prepared foods; school children.

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