Description of the school catering of Barcelona

Abstract

Description of the school catering of Barcelona

Background: The supply of school meals is an important strategy in public health. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of school catering services and meals in schools in the city of Barcelona.

Methods: From 2017-2020, there were 439 schools in the city of Barcelona, of which 378 had a catering service and 341 took part in the school meal review programme. Schools were recruited through food inspection visits or electronic mail.

Results: In most schools, lunch breaks were longer than 30 minutes, the school’s administration was responsible for meal provision, and the catering service was an external company that cooked on-site. In general, the food with lower accomplishment of the recommended frequencies were the pasta, the red and processed meat, the salad as garnishment and the precooked food. There was a low accomplishment of the use of olive oil or of high oleic sunflower to fry. It could be observed a moderated use of olive oil or of high oleic sunflower to cook.

Conclusions: This study found that participating school canteens offered healthy menus, following recommended consumption in most categories. Monitoring school programmes is important and useful to promote healthy food habits in childhood.

Key words: schools, school menus, healthy eating, childhood