Salt reduction strategies in Portuguese school meals, from pre-school to secondary education-the Eat Mediterranean program

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&mdash
a community-based program to identify and correct nutritional deviations through the implementation of new school menus and through schools&rsquo
food handlers training. EM (2015&ndash
2017) was developed in 25 schools (pre to secondary education) of two Portuguese Municipalities, reaching students aged 3&ndash
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 (&minus
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&rsquo
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.