The suitability of the food consumed by children in primary schools for satisfying their needs

<p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Objective:</strong> This study evaluates the suitability of the food consumed by children in primary schools including the role of the lunch menus in satisfying the children’s needs. <strong>Methods:</strong> 852 first-grade students were chosen from 14 randomly selected primary schools in Gaziantep to participate in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Demographic and personal data of the students and their parents, their anthropometric measurements, food consumption habits and the lunch menus served in schools were studied. The Body Mass Index (BMI) of students was evaluated according to World Health Organization (WHO)’s percentile tables. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18 software, using the chi-square test for analyses. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee. <strong>Results:</strong> 51.4% of students were male, 48.6% were female (mean age, 7.05±0.24 years). According to the BMI results, 26.6% of the students were thin and 25.9% were overweight/obese. 73.5% and 85.8% of the children were having breakfast or lunch regularly, respectively. Maternal education levels and employment status did not affect the child’s having breakfast on a daily basis (p&gt;0.05). 27.7 % of children who ate lunch regularly, 15.7% of children who did not eat lunch regularly were overweight/obese (p&lt;0.05). The most consumed food on a regular basis was bread (92.6 %), followed by milk and dairy products (76.5%). When lunch was served in schools (for 24.9% of the students), regular lunch consumption increased among children (p&lt;0.05). The food group the most consumed by the students having lunch at school was fats-sugars-cereals. Only 43.3% of the lunch menus served at schools were found adequate. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> This study demonstrates that there is a need to improve lunch menus served in primary schools in order to satisfy energy and nutritional needs of children.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Nutrition, school health, primary school</p><p>