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Composition of food incorporated to the school snack of preschool children

Abstract:

Introduction: With respect to the high incidence of malnutrition in the country, studies are being carried out that show a low physical and mental performance in the child, associated with inadequate school snack. Objective: To evaluate the composition of the school snack and the determining factors. Methods: A descriptive, correlation, cross-sectional study was carried out in preschools children from 10 education centers in Santa Elena Province, in 2017. The study population was made up of 785 children, with a sample of 150 parent/preschool binomials. The observational method and the applied survey were used, the variables studied were age of the parents, sex, level of instruction, weight and height (evaluated according to the Nutritional Assessment Tables of the World Health Organization), foods included in the snack, and training on healthy eating. The software SPSS v. 21 and the measures of central tendency, dispersion and confidence intervals were used in the data analysis. Results: 84.44% of the parents incorporate healthy foods, 81.14% between 21 and 25 years of age. At Carmen Montenegro School, they provide healthy food in the school snack, unlike Luz Esmeralda Valdivia Education Center, in which they add low-protein foods and where 58.73% said that they had not received training on healthy eating. Conclusion: The most incorporated foods in the school snack were fruits, dairy products, legumes, and natural juices; while the least added were sweets, packaged juices, soda, and snacks.