A RELAÇÃO EDUCAÇÃO E SAÚDE: UMA ABORDAGEM SOBRE O EXCESSO DE CONSUMO DE AÇÚCAR PELO JOVEM

Abstract

Currently there has been a large consumption of foods with excess sugar by teenagers, mainly due to its availability in the market and the economic and cultural interests of the environment in which they live in. It becomes necessary, therefore, to intervene in food education, through family, school or training groups, because this demographic group is an easy target for the media and strong economic interests, to whom the health of consumers is of the least importance. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of extra-class activities (lecture- dialogue), with health professionals in teaching teenagers about nutrition. We obtained information on the knowledge and eating habits of students from eighth grade (9th grade) and the first grade of high school (secondary schools), from both the public and private school system in Santa Maria, RS. The subject was approached through investigative questionnaires before and after the awareness actions, called pre-test and post-test respectively. After the lectures- dialogues, awareness levels increased among the studied group and there was a clear indication of the intention of reducing the consumption of sugar and sugary products. The school as a learning vehicle appears to be an appropriate place to discuss nutrition and health education issuesby providing a sustainable education of strong base and multipliercharacter.