Journal of Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics

Study of Nutrition Habits in Primary School Students

The development of educational strategies to generate positive changes in eating habits of students at the primary school level has gained special interest in the last years. Education in terms of good nutrition is a key factor in student´s healthy lifestyle. In order to know the eating habits of students, it becomes necessary to assess the nutritional status of students taking into account the different foods that themselves choose to eat. One place where they eat food that they themselves choose is at school during the recess, where they have access to buy different kind of food products. In this work, eating habits of students in their last year of primary school were evaluated by the use of a survey. To facilitate the survey understood, household measures were used. Nevertheless, the results were expressed by using the international system of units (SI). Data obtained shows that the most consumed product in the recess chosen by students is alfajor (45.7%), followed by sandwich and/or hot dog (35.1%). Meanwhile, the products that were less consumed were gelatin (3.5%) and cereal bars (3.5%). The total amount of intake macronutrients was also calculated from the survey completed by each of them and it was expressed as total caloric value, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Although, the average total intake resulted in 1550 Cal/day, which is lower than the Recommended Daily Intake for children (2000 Cal/day), according with Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) the intake adequacies of the average macronutrient distribution were higher than 70% in all cases.

Author(s):

Nogués Marina Alejandra,Cometto Marina Paula and Arrieta Marina Patricia

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