Effect of a nutritional intervention on nutrient content in school snacks in public schools in Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: nutritional interventions (NI) in schoolchildren allow to take action in health promotion, physical activity, and nutrition actions for the prevention of malnutrition. Objective: to evaluate the effect of an NI on the nutrient content in school snacks (SS) in public education schools in Mexico. Methods: descriptive, longitudinal, and prospective study with a sample of 812 children were classified into intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) were made to identify nutritional status (NS); to evaluate the SS, the food and beverages that the children took from home to consume during the break were recorded on a checklist; the NI was performed in the IG for 12 weeks with a 6-week reinforcement and the final evaluation was carried out that included NS and overweight (OW) in both groups. Results: a 1.4 % increase in overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) was observed in the IG, while in the CG it increased 5.5 %. In the SS, the CG showed a higher consumption of calories, carbohydrates, and sugars. In the intragroup analysis, the IG decreased carbohydrates, sugars. This intervention showed a small effect on the decrease of calories, carbohydrates and polyunsaturated acids of the IG compared to the CG. Conclusion: NI had a positive effect on the decrease in the energy and carbohydrate content of school snacks and therefore a slower trend in the prevalence of OW and OB in the IG compared to the CG.