EVALUATION OF THE SCHOOL FOOD PROGRAM IN MUNICIPALITIES OF RIO DE JANEIRO MONITORED AND ADVISED BY A COLLABORATING CENTER IN SCHOOL FOOF AND NUTRITION

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of the School Feeding Program in school units in the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro monitored and advised by the Collaborating Center for School Feeding and Nutrition of the Fluminense Federal University (CECANE-UFF), with emphasis on school lunchers, school meals and Good Handling Practices. A cross-sectional study was carried out whose samples were schools and School Food and Nutrition Units (UANE) from twenty municipalities in Rio de Janeiro that received technical-operational support from CECANE-UFF in 2019. Online questionnaires from the PNAE Monitora of the National Program of School Meals were applied and filled in unprecedentedly from visual observation and documental analysis. Data were analyzed using the JASP statistical program (version 0.14.1) and responses were presented in the form of relative frequencies. 136 schools and their respective UANE were visited. About 29% of the UANE supporting documents related to the career plan and remuneration of the school lunchers. In most schools, the presence of a commercial canteen selling ultra-processed foods was identified. In less than half of the schools, nutritionists performed diagnosis and monitored the nutritional status of students. In almost all UANE, menus were available and spaces for the stages of production and distribution of meals were specific. The majority did not present the Good Practices Manual and Technical Data Sheets for Preparations, as well as the operating permit. The results may subsidize the development of new studies and the (re)design of strategies to improve the program in the municipalities.