CONCEPTS OF TEACHERS AND COOKS ON THE CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ, BRAZIL

Authors

  • Caroline Moreira Leal UERJ

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12957/demetra.2012.5242

Abstract

Professionals involved in the school diet program can help with issues related to the consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV) in school, in the development of more suited interventions for this scenario. The objective of this research was to analyze the concepts of teachers and cooks at a public school in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with regard to their own and the students' diet, especially in relation to the consumption of FV. This is a qualitative study, on which semistructured interviews were conducted with six teachers from the first years of primary education and five cooks in a public school. Based on the theoretical framework of Bourdieu, especially regarding his concepts of habitus and field, discursive practices were analyzed.
The meaning of a healthy diet given by teachers and cooks has reproduced in a retranslated manner the scientific recommendations.
According to the interviewees, some FV were not consumed daily due to lack of time, financial circumstances, personal preferences, and distance to the FV sale spots. They assigned different meanings to school diet, which included satisfying students' biological needs, accessing a variety of foods, and having commensality and learning experience. Regarding their concept on students' eating habits, some professionals reported that students wasted some fruit and vegetables, by throwing them out or at each other. These professionals claimed that the families of these students favored the fact that they did not accept this type of food at school. We understand that the willingness to consume FV is a social process structured in social relations. We have noted little willingness by students, teachers, and cooks, to include these foods in their diets. Some measures to encourage the consumption of healthy foods were mentioned by school professionals; for instance, the support of school staff and administration, the inclusion of this topic in the students' curriculum, the need to make food more attractive and improve how cooks prepare the food, adapting to local reality and to the tastes of the students. This information may help to build strategies that will promote the consumption of FV in the school environment, as well as expand public policy debate. Financial support: FAPERJ/EMBRAPA.

Downloads

Published

2013-03-17

How to Cite

Leal, C. M. (2013). CONCEPTS OF TEACHERS AND COOKS ON THE CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ, BRAZIL. DEMETRA: Food, Nutrition & Health, 7(3), 221–222. https://doi.org/10.12957/demetra.2012.5242

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2012)

Section

TESES E DISSERTAÇÕES

License

 

                  STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP RESPONSIBILITY

 

Title of the manuscript:

________________________________________________________

 

1. Statement of responsability

I certify that I have participated in the work above specified and take public responsibility for its content.

I certify that the manuscript represents an original work and that none of the material in the manuscript has been previously published, is included in another manuscript, or is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere, whether in printed form or in electronic media, except that described in the attachment.

In case of acceptance of this text by Demetra: Alimentação, Nutrição & Saude, I declare to be in accordance with the policy of public access and copyright adopted by Demetra, which provides as follows: (a) the authors retain the copyright and grant to the Journal the right of first publication, the work being simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal; (b) authors are authorized to enter additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publishing in institutional repository or book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal; and (c) authors are permitted and encouraged to post and distribute their work online (eg, in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this may lead to productive changes, as well as increase the impact and citation of the published work.

 

2. Conflict of Interest Statement

I certify that there is no conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

 

Date, signature and full address of all authors.