Profile of preschoolers snacks according to the degree of industrial processing

Abstract

The aim of study was to evaluate the quality of snacks sent in preschool lunchboxes at a school, considering the classification NOVA. This is a cross-sectional study developed with 200 children aged 2 to 6 from a private school. Three non-consecutive days of food brought from the house by the students were observed and recorded, and the food was divided into four groups: In Natura (IN) or Minimally Processed (MP), Culinary Ingredients (CI), Processed Foods (PF) and Ultraprocessed Food (UP). Data were analyzed descriptively and Pearson's Chi-Square test, Mann-Whitney U test and Median test were performed. It was observed that 100% of the children took ultraprocessed foods on some evaluated day, and in 85.5% the frequency was in the three days observed. Only 39% took food in natura or minimally processed. The median IN / MP food was 13 g, while the food UP was 200 g. In relation to the amount of energy and nutrients, on average the snacks evaluated presented 341 Kcal (836 Kcal maximum value) and 236 mg sodium (maximum 683 mg). The results show that the quality of snacks contradicts the recommendations of the literature, when the presence of ultra-processed foods in the lunchboxes is significantly higher than the presence of fresh or minimally processed foods.