Impacto de um programa de educação alimentar sobre conhecimentos, práticas alimentares e estado nutricional de escolares

The aim of the present study was to develop and implement a program of Food education and to evaluate its effects on the nutritional state (NS), Food and nutrition knowledge (FNK) and feeding behavior (FB), as well as to determine the physical activity level (PAL) in schoolchildren. The program hasted for six months and involved 951 children who received weekly lessons about eating nutrition and physical activity. ANK and FB were evaluated pre and post the food educational intervention by questionnaire. The PAL was determined by means of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The results shows significant increases in average scoxes (p < 0.05) for FNK and FB after intervention relative to beforehand. However, no correlation was found between these variables. Moreover, the overweight and obesity prevalence increased from 20.7% to 24.3% after intervention. Little more than the half the children reached the recommended 30 minutes of daily physical activity (68%). We concluded that the implemented program was efficient for the improvement of FNK and FB, but that this improvement was not , capable of modifying positively the nutritional state of the children. Moreover, low adhvence to programs of physical activity was detected