School Canteens Abuse Meat and Dairy
Half of the schools comply with the recommendations of health and education, according to research
the menus are missing eggs and salads
“What did you eat in the cafeteria?” Asked his mother to George as he left the school yesterday. “Sausages and yogurt,” replied the first revolutionized student, happy, because the sausages are their favorite dish. But meat is also a problem in school menus. Offer too much. Also too much dairy, eggs and a few salads in little dishes. This follows an extensive study that has compared the Government for two courses menus served in schools with the weekly frequency of consumption of foods recommended in the Guide to Healthy Eating Stage School, 2005.
It keeps the idea of post-war that the child should be plump
A quarter (25.1%) of the 246 centers that Health and Education departments studied between 2006 and 2008 used too much meat. The mismatch between the recommended amounts and served is even greater in the case of dairy products: Almost one third (31.5%) of schools are offered more than once a week, which is recommended by the guide. In contrast, nearly half of schools (45%), gives fewer eggs than the two weeks recommended. Practically the same (44.4%) that do not reach the recommended weekly four salads.
“The approach we follow is strict. Fish that is considered is a steak but not, for example, cod fritters,” recalls Gemma Salvador, a nutritionist at the Health Department and responsible for the extensive review of school menus. We analyzed infant and primary schools, and 80.9% were public. “We want to extend the work to more than 700 centers,” he adds. “The results are given to families and schools so they can improve the menus, but the process is voluntary,” says Maria Bassols Way, another of the authors of the work nutritionists.
“We serve beef three times a week, but I believe it is too, I would double eggs, two fish and meat,” says Marc Perea, director of Gastronomy in Barcelona, a catering company that supplies food to hundreds of schools. Also ensures that the amounts of the lunches are excessive, cover half of the daily, when the food guide recommends that involves 35% of daily intake. “It’s bad, because eating the calories at once encourages overweight,” criticizes Perea. What? Parents seek to strengthen the lunch-time spend less so scarce in today’s working world, and money for dinner, says Perea. He adds that the idea still prevails postwar “The more fattening the child the better.” However, doubts about the quality of service offered, “I wish we could eat adults as well at home and in restaurants as children in schools,” he proclaims.
Agrees to review the school meals have improved Anna Bach, scientific coordinator of the Mediterranean Diet Foundation. But the abuse of dairy notes that “according to the Ten Commandments of the Mediterranean diet, the fruit must be the usual dessert.” And most of the excess protein, believes that “it is standard practice in any menu, not just the school. At the plate should not be a big piece of meat or fish, but smaller portions and always accompanied by green.”
Agrees with them Alex Castillo, president of the Federation of Parents of Barcelona. No fears for both the quality of food, such as the catering, among those who believe that “being abused.” 61.4% of centers surveyed in the study use catering services.
The report also found that some menus are missing information required on the plate. For example, specification missing in 67.9% of the dishes in garrison, in 31.3% of fish dishes and in 7.7% of the meat. In the types of dessert, well what is specified at 6.5% of the menus analyzed? That makes it difficult for parents to avoid repeating at dinner what children have already eaten at school. Precisely such coordination between school and home is one of the issues still to be improved. Serunion catering firm, for example, offers parents and complementary menus for dinner, consistent with what they serve for lunch.
The battle for good nutrition in schools and obesity is also on the agenda of central government. Last week it was revealed that the Ministries of Environment and Health want to push a bill for Food Safety and Nutrition, to be negotiated with the regional governments and companies. It is intended that the diet be supervised by university graduates and a ceiling of 2% saturated fats in foods, among other measures.