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. 2022 Nov;92(11):1074-1080.
doi: 10.1111/josh.13224. Epub 2022 Aug 3.

Nutritional Quality of School Breakfasts: An Experience Based on Improvements of the School Food Program in Buenos Aires

María E Zapata  1 , Romina Buffarini  2 , Alicia Rovirosa  3 , Joaquín Pérez Martín  4 , Joaquín Tomé  5 , Esteban Carmuega  6
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Nutritional Quality of School Breakfasts: An Experience Based on Improvements of the School Food Program in Buenos Aires

María E Zapata et al. J Sch Health. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Since 2016, the School Food Program in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, implemented a nutritional regulatory framework (NRF) and varying administration systems (AS). Here, we examined the association between the interventions (only NRF and NRF + AS) and breakfast nutritional and food indicators between 2016 and 2019.

Methods: Data collected from the Survey of the School Food Program, 2016-2019, were analyzed. The dependent variables were the energy, macro-and micronutrients, milk/yogurt, and fruit quantities in school breakfasts. The independent variables were the school's status: (a) control group, (b) Intervention 1 (only NRF), and (c) Intervention 2 (NRF + AS). We preformed crude and adjusted linear regressions with robust variances.

Results: We evaluated 4,060 schools (control group: 24%; Intervention 1: 39%; Intervention 2: 37%). Only vitamin A levels increased after Intervention 1, and almost all indicators (80%) showed better values when applying Intervention 2.

School health policy implications: Nutritional and food indicator improvements were associated with the implementation of the NRF and AS, emphasizing the significance of design and management of school food public policies, along with the amount of investment/territorial coverage.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of school food and nutrition policies with a potential impact on improving the nutritional status of children.

Keywords: evaluation; nutrition and diet; policy; public health; research; school food services.

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References

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