CHILDREN¿S FRUIT AND VEGETABLES ACCEPTANCE IN CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTERS SITUATED IN THE WEST REGION OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Abstract

In the first year of life, it is essential for children to eat an adequate diet to grow and develop adequately. Considering the importance of fruit and vegetables intake for health, it is important that the good eating habits begin in childhood. In this sense, this work aimed at the evaluation of fruit and vegetables (F&V) consumption and acceptance of children in four childhood education centers situated in three communities of the West region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which are characterized for their low family income. Aiming to evaluate the acceptance of the servings a visual estimation of leftovers in each plate method was applied. It was observed for each child if there was a total or partial ingestion or refuse of F&V offered in school lunch. Also the percentage of children present was determined daily, in each childhood education center, that adhered to lunchtime service. Each group was observed for three days by, at least, three persons, totalizing 396 children. After analyzing the data, it was verified that in the childhood center situated in Guaratiba district, 98.4% of children have consumed the vegetables and none of them has completely rejected it. In the childhood center situated in Santa Cruz district, there was an acceptance of vegetables of 71.6% while in Campo Grande's childhood centers lower acceptance values (56.1 and 54.5%) were verified. Relating to fruit consumption a higher acceptance was observed, about 88.0% in Guaratiba and Santa Cruz districts, and lower acceptance values in Campo Grande childhood centers (78.0 and 70.2%). It can be considered that the fruits acceptance was good in the four evaluated childhood education centers, although the vegetable consumption may be increased. The data suggest that the nutritional education for the children may be an important tool for health promotion and food security.