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Healthy Snack Project: Improving Healthy Choices through Multidisciplinary Food Education Actions

Authors :
Giuseppina Federici
Vincenzo Marcotrigiano
Erica Bino
Alberto Lovat
Angela Padoin
Gerardo Salerno
Pamela D’Incà
Christian Napoli
Sandro Cinquetti
Source :
Nutrients, Vol 16, Iss 2, p 255 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

School is one of the main settings where it is useful to guarantee health promotion actions, as it is well known that diet and eating habits that are shaped in the early stages of life are maintained through adulthood. The objective of this study was to carry out the “Healthy Snack” project to promote nutritional education in primary schools in the Province of Belluno in the 2022–2023 school year, in which 925 students were enrolled, and to evaluate the intervention in terms of changes in eating habits during their school breaks. Following the workshops performed by the healthcare workers (HCWs), medals were awarded, taking into account the quality of the participating students’ mid-morning snacks, considering the food pyramid. The results collected in the annual survey period were related to the type and quantity of snacks consumed at school, and allowed students to gain a final score, comparing the period before and after the educational intervention to demonstrate the effectiveness of the actions promoted by HCWs and the increased nutritional quality of meals. In light of this evidence, public health strategies must continue to emphasize the importance of implementing health promotion interventions and actions aimed at children in order to prevent weight gain in this age group, and the potential development of cardiometabolic pathologies over their lifetime.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20726643
Volume :
16
Issue :
2
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Nutrients
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.861e0fcf60e41bf9e7a9f9a8bc79273
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020255