Assessing the conformance of foods in school canteens in terms of health in Malatya a city of Turkey

Abstract

A healthy diet for students is an important concept in terms of school health. In this regard, selling unhealthy foods in the school canteens causes a serious threat. With this study, we aimed to determine how well the “Turkey Healthy Nutrition and Active Life Program” with the number 201022 released by the Prime Minister’s Office was applied at schools, and to reveal how reliable school canteens were in this context. This is a descriptive study. The sample size was calculated as 37 by considering the ‘rate of chips sales in the school canteen as 2.65%’ with a power of 80% and a confidence level of 95%. Stratified sampling method was used to stratify the schools; after which 18 primary schools, 13 secondary schools and 6 high schools were selected. Statistic were expressed in numbers and percentages. It was observed that despite the prohibition, fruit-flavored beverages were sold in 51.4% of the schools included in the study, cokes were sold in 10.8% of the. Moreover, chips and french fries were present in the canteens in 18.9% and 8.1% of the included schools, respectively. Among the foods and drinks recommended in the circular, these school canteens had ayran (89.2%), milk (83.8%), yoghurt (18.9%), fresh fruits (8.1%) and fresh-squeezed fruit–vegetable juices (5.4%). Although the sales of healthy beverages in the school canteens were high, the sales of unhealthy beverages were also high. The sales of yoghurt, fresh fruit and fresh-squeezed fruit–vegetable juices were lower. Moreover, French fries and chips that should not be present in the canteens were also sold, which is thought-provoking.