engleski

Do School Menus in Zagreb Municipality Offer Enough Fruits and Vegetables?

Adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) can have a positive effect on health and World Health Organization (WHO) recommends to eat at least 400 g of FV to achieve this. In Croatian schools, children from 1st to 4th grade can stay up to 8 h in school, therefore, school menus should offer an adequate amount of FV to help children reach the recommended daily intake. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether school menus follow the recommendation for the daily amount of FV, to estimate which meals contain the most FV, and to determine which FV are most commonly offered in school menus. Quantity and frequency of FV (fresh, frozen and canned FV except potatoes, dried legumes and nuts) was estimated in annual schools’ menus from 14 primary schools in the Zagreb municipality. The WHO recommendation was proportionally adjusted according to number and meal type towards Croatian national guidelines. School menus offer on average 62% of the recommended amount of FV daily. However, there was a great variability between schools (from 33% to 149%). The FV was served within 97% of lunches, 54% of breakfast and 27% of snacks. Annually school menus offered 97% fresh/frozen fruits and 82% fresh/frozen vegetables. The most frequently-served category of vegetables was bulbous (40%) and of fruits was pome (47%). School menus do not meet the recommendation for daily serving quantities of FV. It is necessary to increase the availability and diversity of FV in school menus.

Frequency ; Fruits ; School menus ; Vegetables

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