INTRODUCTION:

In Portugal, there is a lack of diagnosis regarding the dietary provision in daycare centers.

OBJECTIVES:

To qualitatively characterize the dietary offerings in daycare centers at lunch and snack times.

METHODOLOGY:

A cross-sectional study was conducted involving the 18 nursery institutions of the "Creche com Sabor e Saúde" (C2S) project, located in the North and Center of Portugal. Each institution completed a questionnaire detailing meal management procedures. A qualitative assessment tool of 23, 47 and 48 items was applied to 12 weeks of lunch menus (to 6-8, 9-11, and 12-36 months, respectively). Snacks were grouped by food group and classified according to a nutritional traffic light methodology developed in this project. Descriptive analysis was performed, and the t-student test was applied to study associated factors.

RESULTS:

Fifty-four monthly menu plans were analyzed. In the qualitative menu evaluation, the average compliance was 70.6 %. Lunch revealed an excess of prepared fruit offerings (>2x/week, 61.5 %) for ages 6-8 months, simultaneous provision of soup and a protein component dish (92.3 %) for ages 9-11 months, and a lack of fatty fish (<1x/month, 44.4 %) and eggs in dishes (<2x/month, 83.3 %) for ages 12-36 months. Snack analysis identified the presence of at least one high-sugar and/or high-fat food item daily in all institutions.

CONCLUSIONS:

Dietary offerings in daycare centers are inadequate, considering national/international health guidelines.

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