Visão de estudantes do ensino fundamental sobre nutrição, higiene dos alimentos e consumo de produtos lácteos

• Ano de defesa: 2006
• Autor(a) principal: Antunes, Veridiana de Carvalho
• Orientador(a): Brandão, Sebastião César Cardoso
• Banca de defesa: Sant ana, Helena Maria Pinheiro , Soares, Cláudio Furtado
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Viçosa
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Mestrado em Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos
• Departamento: Ciência de Alimentos; Tecnologia de Alimentos; Engenharia de Alimentos
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Nutrição; Higiene alimentar; Produtos lácteos; Escolares
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Nutrition; Food hygiene; Dairy products; Elementary students
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS AGRARIAS::CIENCIA E TECNOLOGIA DE ALIMENTOS::CIENCIA DE ALIMENTOS
• Link de acesso: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/2894

In this study 405 questionnaires were submitted to 6 schools (2 private and 4 public) with students between 8 and 12 years of age (from 2nd to 6th grades), with the objective to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes towards nutrition, food conservation, hygiene and safety, as well as the consumption and the view about the importance of dairy products as food. Most interviewees (40.3%) were not able to express an opinion on the meaning of the word nutrition, 28.5% associated it to only food or health, being these statements construed as they think they know . The private school students were more aware of the meaning of the word nutrition. Among the surveyed 79.8% said they have little knowledge on the matter, and some (15.0%) said they do not have any knowledge. The main sources of nutrition information indicated by the surveyed were the family (33.1%) and the school (27.9%). When asked about What do you need to be healthy , the students answered vitamins, proteins, minerals and carbohydrates. However, they did not agree that fat, salt and calories are needed, citing these components as unhealthy. The students agreed that It is better to eat small quantities of a variety of food types rather than a lot of one type only (97.5%), that It is necessary to eat less fat in order to be healthy (97.5%), that Milk is good to strengthen the bones (97.0%) and still that Sweets, ice cream and chocolate are tasteful, but should not be consumed every day (98.3%). They also said that food is important for your health and growing up process (98.0%), and that physical activity is as important for your health as good food. Regarding the statement It is important to eat whole cereals , 72.0% of the interviewees agreed with it, and they considered fruit healthier when they are fresh. The decision on what to eat depended on the type of school where the interviewee studies, being that in the public schools the decision on what to eat at meal times was usually made by the family, and in the private schools by the own interviewee. The interviewees showed proper understanding of the basic food hygiene rules, since all (100%) agreed with the statements: You must always wash fruits and vegetables before eating ; And your hands too ; It is important to keep the kitchen clean ; Food must be kept at an adequate temperature . Nearly all (95.6%) agreed that Fresh food is better (healthier and safer) than frozen food . Concerning the statement It is better for the health to drink milk straight from the cow than milk bought at supermarkets and bakeries , 67.7% agreed. However, 47.3% of these interviewees also said that this milk might bring illness home. This demonstrated that the students were contradictory, or better, they are not very well informed on the importance of pasteurization. Among all interviewees, 57.7% agreed that The milk straight from the cow might bring illness home and 9.6% said they do not know. Most interviewees (73.5%) were able to explain the meaning of the use-by . The interviewees indicated that food might be harmful if there is a bad bacteria in it , if eating in excess and due to the insecticides used in crops. Among the interviewees, 62.1% consumed milk in the daily, varying between one glass (55.0%) to three glasses (11.5%), with only 43.8% consuming from 2 to 3 glasses/day, which is the recommended intake for an adequate supply of calcium. The frequency to consume dairy products depended on the type of school the student belongs to, since most interviewees (82.9%) from private schools consumed milk daily, and a significant percentage (28.9%) from public schools consumed only once a week or rarely. The consumption is preferentially of milk with chocolate (43.6%), followed by plain milk (29.2%) and with coffee (19.6%). The kind of milk most consumed is the pasteurized milk (44.1%) followed by the UHT milk (34.7%) and the informal unprocessed milk sold straight from the producer (17.1%). The interviewees indicated that dairy products provide the following components: protein, calcium, iron, fiber, fat and vitamins for your body to be healthy. The mentioning of dairy as a source of iron (72.8%) and fibers (61.2%) makes evident the lack of knowledge among the students about the nutritional composition of this food. At snack time, the interviewees said they preferred to drink natural juice (52.7%) because they think it is healthier and due to the taste, followed by soft drink (22.3%) and dairy (20.5%). It was observed that at the private schools the choice of what to drink at snack time was motivated by taste, and at public schools the reason was divided between taste and if it is healthy. The data suggest that the students are lacking essential information required to make adequate nutritional choices, and it is necessary a nutritional educational program with the participation of the school and the family, aiming to educate about the importance of healthy eating habits in order to prevent chronic diseases in the short and long run. One can infer too that it is necessary the adoption of eating education efforts, since the students are not aware of the importance of consuming dairy products.