Analysis of health promoting preschool feeding practice in Klaipeda city

SUMMARY Analysis of health promoting preschool feeding practice in Klaipeda city Laura Mėlynė Master’s thesis Thesis supervisor: Prof. L. Šernienė (PhD). Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Veterinary Academy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Department of Food Safety and Quality. Kaunas, 2018. The thesis consists of 64 pages, 9 diagrams, 6 tables and 4 appendices. Objective of thesis: to analyse the peculiarities of the regular (old) and novel, health-promoting, children’s nutritional models at the pre-school educational institutions of Klaipėda City. Methodology. The analysis of secondary data took place during January - December of 2017, while quantitative research was carried out during January-February of 2018. An anonymous questionnaire was used for the survey. Parents of 350 children attending pre-school educational institutions participated in the survey (response rate - 85,2 % ). Data obtained from the survey was processed using SPSS 23.0 and Microsoft Excel software. The significance of statistical conclusions was evaluated using the Student t-test and chi-square test. Results. Upon analysis of the necessary collected literature and secondary data analysis, it was identified that the reference nutritional value of the children’s menu prior to the introduction of the novel children’s model did not comply with the established legal acts. Children received an unbalanced and health-degrading diet due to extreme lack of vegetables and fruit, gravy served with main dishes, the predominance of meat products, simple carbohydrates, sweet beverages and confectionery. Due to degrading health in children attending pre-school educational institutions in Klaipėda City, decrease in number of children with a normal body mass index and prevalent children’s disorders of the endocrine and digestive systems it was essential to take a look at children’s nutrition at educational institutions. Upon implementing the new children’s nutrition model, the amount and variety of vegetables was significantly increased, a decrease in sugar levels was observed due to the limitations on sweet beverages and confectionery, gravy is no longer served with afternoon meals, complex carbohydrates are now available. The food available to children has become more varied, rational and balanced. A statistically significant increase (p