Nutrition of children and the school function: Report of a community experience

Abstract

This is the report of an experience directed to nutritional problems concerning children of school age, performed in a School where the Child Institute has been accomplishing a Pilot Project for Community Development.According to suggestions made by teachers an evaulation was done of the nutritional status of students, gathering information on their nourishment and on how they accept food at school. It was found that there was a high prevalence of Protein Energy Malnutrition (34,2%) among the students. This made one presume that there was no alteration in nutritional status of the students in the Municipal District of Sao Paulo during the last decade. As far as nourishment is concerned, the most relevant aspect was the rate of students who went to school with no food (15,6% and 14,2% to the 1 st and 2nd period of class, respectively).