Qualitative evaluation of menu preparations in a federal educational institution in Minas Gerais.

Abstract

Quality school meals are essential to ensure proper growth and development of students. Menus must comply with the guidelines of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), ensuring healthy meals that are well accepted by students. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the lunch menu preparations offered at a federal public educational institution during the 2023.1 academic semester. For this purpose, the Qualitative Analysis of School Menu Preparations (AQPC School) method was Applied. Culinary preparations were classified as: “recommended” foods, which promote health, and “controlled” foods, which may pose a health risk. Foods in the “recommended” category showed high frequency of cereals, breads, pasta and starchy vegetables (100%), meats and eggs (100%), legumes (100%), salads (95.5%), fresh fruits (88.8%) and non-starchy vegetables (83.1%), but a low frequency of “milk and dairy products” (20.2%) and “whole foods” (16.9%). Among items in the “controlled” category, low frequency  was observed for breakfast cereals, cakes and cookies (0%), low nutritional beverages (0%), concentrated, powdered or dehydrated foods (6.7%), processed or industrialized meat products (9%), preparations with added sugar and sugary products (10.1%), preparations with a similar color in the same meal (11.2%) and semi-prepared or ready-to eat processed foods (27%). Conversely, high frequencies were found for “flatulent and difficult-to-digest foods” (100%), “canned and preserved foods” (50.6%) “fried foods, fatty meats and fatty sauces” (77.5%) and flatulent and difficult-to-digest foods (100%). The results indicate good nutritional quality of the menus, highlighting the need for specific adjustments to better align the meals offered to students.