Nutrition of primary school children: world and Ukrainian realities

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the actual nutrition of primary school children in Ukraine and other countries. Material and methods. An analysis of publications in scientific journals and reports of national agencies on the state of nutrition of primary school children. Search depth 10 years. The following search strategy "primary school", "nutrition", "sentinel surveillance" was used. The 15 most relevant publications were selected for further analysis. In addition, a survey of 450 primary school students was conducted on the quality of nutrition during school. Statistical processing was performed using MedCalc software.
 Results. Most countries in the world have some kind of nutrition program for younger students. At the same time, the diets that these programs offer do not always meet the principles of healthy eating. According to our own data, only 96 (21.3%) of the surveyed schoolchildren aged 6-10 had a full meal at school. For the rest, there was either a qualitative or quantitative discrepancy in the composition of breakfast and lunch at school. The children noted the lack of time for meals, low taste of school lunches. Every second child consumed insufficient volume of fluids during school.
 Conclusion. The nutritional status of primary school children is affected by lack of time for eating and recreational physical activity, unbalanced diet when using home lunch boxes and low coverage of high school students with organized meals. Unlike other countries, the main problem for Ukraine is not an energy surplus diet, but the popularity of fast food among children of primary school age is undoubtedly unacceptable.

Nutrition in modern socio-economic conditions of Ukraine as a health-forming factor (literature review)

“…Концепція ВООЗ «Школи сприяння здоров'ю» підтримує загально-шкільний підхід до зміцнення здоров'я [24]. Попереднє дослідження, яке вивчало вплив таких законодавчих стандартів на харчові продукти та поживні речовини, підкреслювало потенційний позитивний вплив на раціон харчування дітей молодшого шкільного віку [25].…”

International programs to provide school-age children with nutrition

“…WFP primarily conducts school feeding programs in low and middle-income countries and provides additional support to national school feeding programs in politically stable countries that have established their own state programs. The school feeding strategy initiated by WFP for the period 2020-2030 aims to ensure healthy nutrition for every schoolchild through an integrated and multi-sectoral approach [1][2][3][4]. Before the COVID-19 crisis, at least one in every two primary school students received daily school meals in 161 countries (equivalent to 388 million children).…”