Evaluation of school lunch recipes based on digital platform / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand levels of various foods and nutrients in school lunch based on digital platform and to provide reference for food preparation and serving.@*Methods@#A total of 13 018 school lunch recipes in Binhai New Area of 96 schools in Tianjin from November 2020 to April 2021 were collected by using digital management platform for food safety and nutritional health.Food types including cereals and tubers, vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry meat, fish and shrimp, eggs, milk and dairy products, legumes and their products/nuts and others energy, and nutrients including protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B 1, vitamin B 2, vitamin C and dietary fiber were evaluated.@*Results@#The qualified rate of all kinds of food for students lunch from high to low were 96.8% (116.4 g) of livestock and poultry meat, 92.3% (179.5 g) of cereal and potato, 65.0% (170.6 g) of vegetables, 47.7% (21.4 g) of soybeans and their products/nuts, 33.4% (18.0 g) of eggs, 14.4% (8.5 g) of fish and shrimp, 14.1% (19.6 g) of fruits, 0.3% (35.4 g) of milk and dairy products. There were significant differences in the qualified rate of various food intake among different grades( P <0.05). The qualified rate of students lunch energy was 76.9%(932.6 kcal). The qualified rates of various nutrients from high to low were iron 96.9%(9.7 mg), zinc 96.8%(5.9 mg), protein 96.4%(43.8 g), carbohydrate 87.6%(130.8 g) and selenium 82.9%(23.5 μg), vitamin C 78.5%(48.8 mg), vitamin B 1 75.9%(0.5 mg), fat 74.3%(28.5 g), vitamin A 74.1%(327.1 μ g) vitamin B 2 49.9%(0.5 mg), dietary fiber 19.5%(5.9 g) and calcium 13.4%(246.1 mg). There were significant differences in the qualified rates of energy and nutrients among different grades( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#The digital platform basically meets school lunch requirments on food types and nutrients, but still with problems regarding insufficient fish and shrimp, fruits, milk and dairy products, vitamin B 2, dietary fiber and calcium. It is suggested to optimize school lunch recipes or increase corresponding nutrients content in other meals.