Ações em prol da alimentação saudável em cantinas escolares de Dourados-MS: impressões e atitudes dos gestores

Abstract

Objective: To identify impressions and attitudes of managers of school canteens in Dourados-MS, in favor of healthy eating. Methods: This was a crosssectional study in which canteen managers attending public and private primary and secondary schools in the urban area of the municipality of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, from April to June 2018. Epi Info (version 7.2) and SPSS, respectively, were used for typing and data analysis. Categorical variables were presented by means of frequencies (percentages) and the differences between 3groups were evaluated using Fisher's exact test, due to the sample size (p-value ≤ 0.05). Results: The total sample was 14 schools, of which eight were public and six were private. There is predominance of female managers, aged between 30 and 50 years old. Most canteens have outsourced management and only offer snacks. Most participants said they were interested in working with a healthy school canteen. Communication with the school community, knowledge about food and nutrition, participation in hygiene courses and the creation of actions for healthy eating were very low among participants. Conclusion: The commercialization of unhealthy foods, the low perception of the participants about healthy eating and few actions for healthy eating, can be used to discuss and implement public feeding policies in the school context.