Evaluation of Barcelona school meals

Introduction: the menus offer that is made in school canteens is a relevant area for the prevention of obesity and the promotion of healthy eating habits in childhood and youth. Objectives: the purpose of this study are: 1) to describe and evaluate the compliance of the frequencies of food consumption recommended by the guidelines in the school menus of Barcelona city during the academic course 2018-19; 2) to evaluate the perception of the usefulness of the strategy; and 3) the monitoring of the acceptance and the implementation of suggested improvement measures. Methods: the revision was offered to 130 schools that had a canteen services and 116 schools accepted to participate (33266 students). Compliance with the recommended frequencies per week of diverse groups of food and the different culinary techniques was evaluated. A report with suggestions for improvement was elaborated and a follow-up was performed at 6 months to verify the compliance of the recommendations and to value the satisfaction and usefulness of the strategy. Results: The 82% of the menus offered at the school canteens met the recommended frequencies for all the food groups. All the parameters were improved at the 6 months follow up. Schools also reported a high satisfaction with the recommendations received. Discussion: the disparity participation of schools according to socioeconomic indicators of the district they belong to indicates the need to guarantee equity in access to healthy menus. Conclusions: The menus evaluated comply with the recommended food frequencies. A great adherence of the schools to the recommendations was perceived. Lastly, schools were highly satisfied with the strategy.