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Salt Reduction Strategies in Portuguese School Meals, from Pre-School to Secondary Education-The Eat Mediterranean Program.
- Source :
-
Nutrients [Nutrients] 2020 Jul 24; Vol. 12 (8). Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jul 24. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- High sodium (salt) consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases. However, in most European countries, Portugal included, sodium intake is still high. This study aimed to assess the sodium content of school meals before and after the Eat Mediterranean (EM) intervention-a community-based program to identify and correct nutritional deviations through the implementation of new school menus and through schools' food handlers training. EM (2015-2017) was developed in 25 schools (pre to secondary education) of two Portuguese Municipalities, reaching students aged 3-21 years old. Samples of the complete meals (soup + main course + bread) from all schools were collected, and nutritional quality and laboratory analysis were performed to determine their nutritional composition, including sodium content. Overall, there was a significant decrease (-23%) in the mean sodium content of the complete school meals, which was mainly achieved by the significant reduction of 34% of sodium content per serving portion of soup. In conclusion, EM had a positive effect on the improvement of the school meals' sodium content, among the participant schools. Furthermore, school setting might be ideal for nutrition literacy interventions among children, for flavors shaping, and for educating towards less salty food acceptance.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Health Plan Implementation
Humans
Male
Meals
Menu Planning
Nutrition Policy
Nutritional Requirements
Nutritive Value
Portugal
Program Evaluation
Schools
Young Adult
Diet, Mediterranean
Diet, Sodium-Restricted methods
Food Services
School Health Services
Sodium, Dietary analysis
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2072-6643
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nutrients
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32722323
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082213