Nutritional condition and moments of food consumption of schoolchildren in public schools intervened by the póngale vida® model in santo domingo de heredia, costa rica

Abstract

The aim of the study was to describe changes in nutritional condition and food consumption times in schoolchildren in the context of the school-community intervention of the Póngale Vida® Model. Anthropometric data and food practices were analyzed from 348 school children enrolled in two public schools at Santo Domingo County,Heredia, who were evaluated during a three years of intervention (2015-2017), and the data were collected at the beginning and the end ofthe school year. The prevalence of excess of weight was 39.1% in 2015, 40% in 2016, and 38.4% in 2017. The values of the Z score for BMI of school children showed a difference of 0.2 in girls and 0.1 in boys, between 2015 and 2017. These changes are associated with the decrease in the percentage of students who eat double breakfast, at home and at the school, with the non-repetition of lunch, in addition to reducing the number of schoolchildren who bring money to buy at the school canteen. However, havinglunch at home again was the only one statistically significant (p =0.005).The Póngale Vida Model achieved a reduction in the moments of food consumption of schoolchildren that manifested itself in a reduction in the percentage of excess weight. The process of behavior change in schoolchildren is slow, and a longer intervention may be required to sustained over time behavior changes and to influence the eating practices associated with excess weight on the school setting.