Despite advances, the menus of schools served by the National School Meals Program can still be healthier

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of Brazilian school meals. Cross-sectional study that used 2785 daily menus, from 557 municipalities in the country, offered between 2022 and 2024, in elementary schools. For evaluation, the Quality Index for School Meal Menus Revised was used. It was observed that the majority of menus presented intermediate quality (70.74%) and the other categories presented similar frequencies. The groups of cereals and tubers; vegetables; and fruits were the most frequent, followed by legumes; red meat; and eggs, chicken and fish. Already ultra-processed; regional foods appeared on a quarter of the menus; dairy products; candy; processed foods; and time compatibility; socio-biodiversity foods and sweet regional preparations were less frequent. This study provides an overview of Brazilian school meals with a high frequency of fresh and minimally processed foods. However, it was also possible to observe the presence of foods that are not allowed in school meals.