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Promotion of healthy eating at schools in the Federal District of Brazil
The aim of this 2013 Brazilian study was to present the health promotion strategies used at public and private schools in the Federal District of Brazil. Interviews were held with 122 private and 173 public schools to determine their health promotion efforts. Only one private school fulfilled the criteria for at least 20 of the 24 items investigated. On the other hand, there were 2 public schools that only fulfilled the criteria for 3 items. There was a positive correlation found between the number of meetings organized with the school community to address healthy eating with the presence of healthy environments in the school. Moreover, schools that monitored the nutritional status of its students were more likely to have healthy environments. Schools that held more meetings than average to help promote health had a smaller percentage of street vendors and local stores in the school’s vicinity. Most of the schools that partnered with health professionals included the topic of healthy eating in the curriculum. The different relationships highlighted by this study demonstrate the importance of these components of health promotion. The schools in the federal district of Brazil still require more support and training for them to be “health-promoting schools.”[NPID: diet intervention, mental health, Brazil, health promotion, food environment]
Year: 2013
