What do the adolescents prefer: food from school or competitive foods?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify and justify adolescents' food choices during recess at school and to get to know school staff vision about the students' acceptance of the Brazilian School Meal Program. MATERIAL AND METHODS: It's a cross-sectional study in a public school in São Paulo, based on the Theory of the Social Representations. Eighty-three adolescents were selected and asked to identify their food choices during recess at school. Complementary to this survey, twelve school staff members answered an interview aimed at identifying their own view on the students' acceptance of the Brazilian School Meal. Data analysis was done using the Discourse of Collective Subject technique, identifying the methodological figures - key-expressions and central ideas - for the construction of their discourse. RESULTS: Although the adolescents don't like the meals offered by the program, they adhere to it since it is the only alternative they have at school. Nevertheless, it is common for them to buy food in establishments nearby or to bring it from home as a complement or a substitute for the school meal. In the school staff's vision the adolescents like the school meal. However, they considered that some of the foods are not part of the adolescents' eating habits or do not attract them due to their organoleptic characteristics. CONCLUSION: The research suggests modifications in the meals to increase the ingestion of the school meal.