Assessment of school eating habits of primary school students and attitudes of students, their parents and catering organizers towards the new catering order

The aim of the thesis was to investigate the school eating habits of primary school students and to assess the attitudes of students, their parents and catering organizers towards the new catering order. Objectives of the thesis: to identify school eating habits and satisfaction of primary school students with the new school catering order; to assess the attitudes of parents of students towards the new catering order; to identify problems faced by catering organizers in implementing the new catering order. Methodology. Cross-sectional survey was conducted in November-December 2019 at Kazlų Rūda Primary School, by means of an anonymous questionnaire. During the research, 129 students of 3-4 grades, 129 their parents, and 4 school catering organizers were interviewed. During the anonymous survey, the respondents filled in a questionnaire consisting of questions about the respondents’ social and demographic data, students’ eating habits, satisfaction with school food and the changed new order of catering organization. A few-day observation was also made in the school canteen in order to find out what dishes and products the students choose and what part of them they eat. Differences between qualitative traits were assessed using the chi-square (χ2) criterion and the Z-criterion with Bonferroni correction. ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test was used for calculations in order to assess changes in quantitative traits. Results. 78.3 per cent of girls and 69.5 per cent of boys eat lunch at school at least several times a week or daily. 14 per cent of students never eat lunch in a school canteen. Usually at lunch at school, students leave uneaten porridge, vegetables and soup. Half of the children (52.7 per cent) feel full after lunch at school. Only 9.3 per cent of students never bring snacks to school. With the entry into force of the new catering organization order, changes in student catering took place at the school and the majority of students did not notice significant changes in food. Only half of parents are usually interested in their child’s nutrition at school. More than half of parents believe that their child receives healthy and balanced food at school only in part. 62.8 per cent of parents are not acquainted or they are only partially acquainted with the order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Lithuania on the new procedure for organizing meals in pre-school education, general education schools and children’s social care institutions. Only 31.1 per cent of parents are often or always interested in the children’s menu at school. Catering organizers evaluate the changed new catering order very badly, they do not have all the necessary equipment to organize the new catering order. It is difficult for workers to prepare delicious food without the products needed to improve the taste. Catering organizers would like to include sour cream, sugar, jam, rusks, mayonnaise in the children’s diet, and give more potato dishes. After two days of observation at school, we saw that students willingly ate meat and fish, most of the students did not eat soups and porridges, they chose only one of the several vegetable-garnish options offered, and did not always eat. The fruit given to them was always eaten or taken with them. Conclusions. The eating habits of most students do not meet the recommendations for a healthy diet. Older parents are more likely to be familiar with the new school meal order than younger parents. Catering organizers are not satisfied with the changed new catering organization order, and they find it difficult to prepare food according to the new recommendations