Nutritional habits of primary school children in Slovenia and Malta

Na prehransko vedenje otrok vplivajo številni dejavniki. Med najpomembnejšimi sta družinsko in šolsko okolje. Glede na čas, ki ga otrok preživi v šoli, je pomembno, da je šolska prehrana ustrezno organizirana in načrtovana. Z raziskavo, v kateri sem primerjala prehransko vedenje malteških in slovenskih otrok, sem želela ugotoviti, kako organiziranost šolske prehrane vpliva na prehrano učencev. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 100 učencev iz Slovenije in enako število učencev z Malte. Učenci so bili stari med deset in petnajst let. Njihove prehranjevalne navade sem analizirala z anketiranjem. Za potrebe raziskave sem razvila vprašalnik o prehranskih navadah in odnosu do šolske prehrane, ki so ga učenci izpolnjevali v času pouka. Za analizo podatkov so bile uporabljene deskriptivne in inferenčne statistične metode. Ugotovila sem, da se prehranjevalne navade osnovnošolcev na Malti in v Sloveniji razlikujejo. Slovenski učenci pogosteje uživajo sadje, zelenjavo in polnozrnati kruh, manj pogosto kot malteški učenci pa čokolado in čips ter sladke in gazirane pijače. Slovenski učenci se bolj kot malteški strinjajo, da šolska prehrana vsebuje dovolj sadja in zelenjave. Malteški učenci v primerjavi s slovenskimi šolsko malico ocenjujejo kot bolj okusno in dražjo. Glede na ugotovitve raziskave ocenjujem, da organizirana šolska prehrana pripomore k zdravim prehranjevalnim navadam učencev. Lahko ocenim, da imajo slovenski učenci zaradi organizirane in nadzorovane šolske prehrane več možnosti za zdravo prehranjevanje v šoli kot malteški učenci. V nadaljnjih raziskavah bi bilo potrebno podrobneje raziskati energijsko in hranilno vrednost šolske prehrane in prehrane učencev, da bi lahko jasneje uresničevali načela zdravega prehranjevanja otrok v šolskem prostoru.Numerous factors have impact on children’s nutritional behaviour. The family and school environments are among the most important. Considering the length of time a child spends at school it is important that school meals are properly organized and composed. The research, in which we compared nutritional behaviour of Maltese and Slovenian children, was meant to establish what impacts the organization of school meals has on pupils’ nutrition. One hundred school children from Slovenia and the corresponding number of their counterparts from Malta were included in the research. Their age was between ten and fifteen years. Their eating habits were analysed by means of a questionnaire. For the needs of the research, a special questionnaire was prepared concerning eating habits and attitude to school mealsthe pupils filled it out during school classes. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used for the analyses of the data. It has been established that eating habits of elementary-school children in Malta and in Slovenia are different. Slovenian pupils eat fruit, vegetables and wholegrain bread more often, and less often than their Maltese counterparts they eat chocolate and chips or drink sweet and carbonated drinks. Slovenian pupils agree more often than the Maltese ones that school food contains enough fruit and vegetables. In comparison with Slovenian children, Maltese pupils rate school lunch as tastier and more expensive. In view of the research findings, we judge that organized school meals help the pupils to develop healthy nutrition habits. I can assess that, thanks to organized and controlled school meals, Slovene pupils have better chances to eat healthy food in school than their Maltese counterparts. Future researches should further explore energy and nutritional value of school meals and of children’s nutrition in order to fully adhere to the principles of healthy nutrition of children in school context