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Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School

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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 9114

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Josep A. Tur

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Guest Editor

1. Research Group on Community Nutrition and Oxidative Stress, University of the Balearic Islands-IUNICS, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2. Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), 07120 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
3. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Interests: non-communicable chronic diseases; obesity; diet; nutrition; lifestyle; oxidative stress; inflammation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Marcela González-Gross

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Guest Editor

Department of Health and Human Performance, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Interests: vitamins; energy balance; physical activity; fitness; lifestyle; hydration; biomarkers; dietary patterns; research methodologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Children and adolescents spend a lot of time at school. Thus, educational centres can positively influence the present and future healthy nutrition of students, playing a crucial role in promoting their health. Schools play a fundamental role in promoting education and the acquisition of healthy habits in terms of nutrition and physical activity in daily life. This Special Issue will present the latest results of studies oriented in this sense, which are currently underway in the school environment. Moreover, the characteristics and nutritional offerings of the school canteens will be addressed, and the high expectations and responsibilities placed in the hands of the teachers and canteen monitors will be questioned.

The aim of this Special Issue is to show why the school is the ideal setting for promoting the healthy nutrition and well-being of children and adolescents. Accordingly, this Special Issue invites the submission of original research, review articles, and meta-analyses, as well as special reports on recommendations and experiences to apply in the school, including by the managers and people responsible for public health nutrition. The policy that regulates school canteens, as well as the installation of vending machines in schools, from a healthy nutrition perspective, will also be the subject of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Josep A. Tur
Prof. Dr. Marcela González-Gross
Guest Editors

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Keywords

children
adolescents
nutrition
dietary habits
lifestyle
school
canteens
physical activity
public health

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14 pages, 1017 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Overweight Prevalence Changes Before and After COVID-19 in Spain: The PESCA Program Longitudinal Outcomes 2018–2021

by F. Zarate-Osuna, C. Quesada-González, A. G. Zapico and M. González-Gross

Nutrients 2024, 16(23), 3993; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16233993 - 21 Nov 2024

Viewed by 356

Abstract

Background: Overweight prevalence in Spain reached critical levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, which likely exacerbated this issue. The PESCA (Programa Escolar de Salud Cardio-vascular) program is a multicomponent school-based intervention, launched in 2018 with the aim of tackling this health problem and reducing overweight rates in youth. Objectives: (1) To analyze the efficacy of the PESCA program intervention on body composition, overweight prevalence, physical activity (PA)/sport practice, resting time, and screentime before COVID-19 and (2) to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and the associated lockdown measures on these parameters in the studied sample. Methods: This longitudinal study included 207 children and adolescents from schools in Madrid (aged 2.82 to 15.84 years; 44.4% girls), with measurements taken at three time points: two before COVID-19 and one after its onset. Overweight prevalence, body fat percentage diagnosis, physical activity, resting time, and screentime were assessed. Cochran’s Q test and repeated-measures ANOVA were used to compare outcomes across the three assessment time points. Results: Overweight prevalence remained stable among children in the PESCA program before COVID-19 (17.87% to 19.81%). However, a significant increase was observed from point 2 to point 3, post-COVID-19 onset (19.81% to 26.57%). Similarly, healthy body composition significantly deteriorated from 63.16% at point 2 to 52.48% at point 3. PA/sport practice prevalence significantly increased until COVID-19 onset (80.19% to 91.22%) but declined thereafter (91.22% to 79.10% from point 2 to point 3). Although the differences were small, resting time significantly decreased post-COVID-19 onset (from 10.18 h at point 2 to 9.96 h at point 3), with no changes in the first period. Non-academic screentime showed a similar pattern: stable before COVID-19 and significantly increased after its onset (1.61 h at point 1; 1.70 h at point 2; 2.29 h at point 3). Conclusions: The PESCA program positively impacted PA/sport practice prevalence and may have provided some protection against overweight and related variables during the pre-COVID period. However, health authorities’ restrictions and lockdown policies during COVID-19 negatively affected the health and lifestyle variables studied, offsetting previous improvements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

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15 pages, 635 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Public Procurement Practices for Cereal Products in Polish Educational Institutions: Analysis and Implications for Nutrition Policy

by Katarzyna Brukało, Aleksandra Kołodziejczyk, Justyna Nowak and Oskar Kowalski

Nutrients 2024, 16(17), 2880; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172880 - 28 Aug 2024

Viewed by 652

Abstract

Public procurement of food is crucial for ensuring proper nutrition and the provision of high-quality products in public institutions like schools and kindergartens. It should be seen as an investment in health promotion, particularly for young children. Notably, when no quality criteria are specified, the cheapest and often lowest-quality products are typically selected. This study analyzed 1126 public procurement orders processed by schools and kindergartens in Poland between November 2022 and March 2023, with a focus on cereal products and their derivatives. Of these orders, 197 met the inclusion criteria, yielding a total of 5084 cereal products for detailed analysis. The study assessed the quantities ordered and the quality characteristics specified in the procurement documents. The results revealed that the most commonly described criteria pertained to product composition, especially typical characteristics and the absence of additives. Sensorial characteristics such as consistency and color were also frequently specified, while sustainable public procurement criteria were mentioned the least, indicating their marginal importance in current procurement practices. This underscores the critical importance of establishing minimum standards for describing cereal products in terms of sensorial characteristics, composition, and sustainability. Such standards are essential for improving the quality of grain products supplied to public institutions and ensuring that these institutions actively contribute to promoting healthy eating habits among children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

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15 pages, 266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of School Health Promotion in Students’ Dietary Intake during School Hours: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

by Lisanne Vonk, Pepijn van Empelen, Tim Huijts, Iris Eekhout and Maria Jansen

Nutrients 2024, 16(13), 1981; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16131981 - 21 Jun 2024

Viewed by 913

Abstract

Many children in the Netherlands do not adhere to dietary guidelines. Therefore, the Healthy School (HS) program stimulates healthier dietary intake of students through schools. However, evaluating the effectiveness of school health promotion in improving dietary intake is challenging due to the influence of contextual factors. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) considers these contextual factors. Therefore, we performed a QCA to examine which (combinations of) contextual factors contribute to the healthier dietary intake of students during school hours in primary schools (approximate age range children 4–12 years) and secondary schools (age range 12–18 years) when implementing the HS program for nutrition. Data were collected mainly through interviewing school staff and a school-level questionnaire in fifteen primary schools and twelve secondary schools. We included five factors for primary schools: implementation of the HS program for nutrition, degree of implementation, socioeconomic status, parental support, and student support. For secondary schools, we included school environment instead of parental and student support. For primary schools, the best results were obtained if the HS program for nutrition was implemented in high socioeconomic status schools with a combination of high implementation, parental support, and student support. Findings indicate that if secondary schools have an impeding environment and low socioeconomic status, implementation of the HS program for nutrition can result in healthier dietary intake. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

13 pages, 259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Salt Intake of Children and Adolescents: Influence of Socio-Environmental Factors and School Education

by Ewa Malczyk, Małgorzata Muc-Wierzgoń, Edyta Fatyga and Sylwia Dzięgielewska-Gęsiak

Nutrients 2024, 16(4), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16040555 - 17 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1893

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the salt consumption by children and adolescents from the Silesian Province (Poland), taking into account the region’s dietary traditions and the age of the students+. (2) Methods: 300 students aged 10–18 from different types of schools were enrolled in the study and divided into groups in terms of school, sex, and the state of their nutrition. A survey questionnaire about dietary habits, including the frequency and serving size with respect to 12 salty products, was used. On the basis of the frequency and the amount of consumed products, as well as the data on salt content, the amount of total daily intake of salt was estimated. (3) Results: The mean daily intake of salt by children and adolescents was 1.083 g (0.433 g of sodium); children aged 10–12 consumed the highest amount of salt (1.296 g/day) compared to pupils aged 13–15 (1.131 g of sodium) and adolescents aged 16–18 (0.863 g/day). (4) Conclusions: With age, as a result of various factors, the consumption of salt declines. The parents’ impact and the familial socio-environmental factors begin to wane, and other factors start to have influence, e.g., school education of a healthy lifestyle and health behavior of peers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

15 pages, 539 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Perceived Quality of Life Is Related to a Healthy Lifestyle and Related Outcomes in Spanish Children and Adolescents: The Physical Activity, Sedentarism, and Obesity in Spanish Study

by Marina Ródenas-Munar, Margalida Monserrat-Mesquida, Santiago F. Gómez, Julia Wärnberg, María Medrano, Marcela González-Gross, Narcís Gusi, Susana Aznar, Elena Marín-Cascales, Miguel A. González-Valeiro, Lluís Serra-Majem, Susana Pulgar, Marta Segu, Montse Fitó, Silvia Torres, Juan Carlos Benavente-Marín, Idoia Labayen, Augusto G. Zapico, Jesús Sánchez-Gómez, Fabio Jiménez-Zazo, Pedro E. Alcaraz, Marta Sevilla-Sánchez, Estefanía Herrera-Ramos, Helmut Schröder, Cristina Bouzas and Josep A. Tur Show full author list Hide full author list

Nutrients 2023, 15(24), 5125; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15245125 - 16 Dec 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2730

Abstract

Background: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is crucial for safeguarding the well-being and quality of life perception, appropriate growth, and development of children and adolescents, while also mitigating the risk of future adult-onset diseases. Objective: To assess associations between perceived quality of life and healthy lifestyle and related outcomes in Spanish children and adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 8–16-year-old children and adolescents (n = 3534) were included in the nationwide study of Physical Activity, Sedentarism, and Obesity in Spanish Youth (PASOS). Data were collected through (1) questionnaires on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), healthy lifestyle outcomes (dietary intake, physical fitness, sleep, and screen time), and (2) anthropometric measurements for weight status assessment. Data were analysed by logistic regression, using the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as the grouping variable. Results: Participants with a lower HRQoL were those with a lower adherence to the MedDiet and lower achievement of the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables. They were also less likely to follow the recommendations for screen time and sleep (with the exception of the weekend) compared to participants with a higher HRQoL. Participants with a lower HRQoL showed a lower healthy weight status and poorer physical fitness than those with a higher HRQoL. Conclusions: Healthy eating habits, healthy weight status (normal weight), appropriate sleep time, physical fitness, and limited screen time play a crucial role in the perceived quality of life in children and adolescents. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

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15 pages, 671 KiB

Open AccessStudy Protocol

Study Protocol for a Controlled Trial of Nutrition Education Intervention about Celiac Disease in Primary School: ZELIAKIDE Project

by Maialen Vázquez-Polo, Itziar Churruca, Gesala Perez-Junkera, Idoia Larretxi, Arrate Lasa, Jon Esparta, Leire Cantero-Ruiz de Eguino and Virginia Navarro

Nutrients 2024, 16(3), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16030338 - 23 Jan 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1640

Abstract

The only treatment for celiac disease (CD) is a strict and lifelong gluten-free diet (GFD), which must be safe and nutritionally balanced. Avoiding gluten brings difficulties with following the diet and can affect the social life of people with CD. The Zeliakide Project is a nutrition education program aimed at increasing the knowledge of the general population about healthy diets, CD and GFD, and, therefore, to improve the social inclusion and quality of life of people with CD. It is a one-month intervention program, two-armed cluster, non-randomised and controlled trial, conducted among 10–12-year-old children. Pre- and post-intervention evaluation and 1 month follow-up will be carried out to assess the effectiveness of the program. It is based on competencies and their respective learning outcomes. The teaching methodology chosen is a STEAM methodology: inquiry-based learning (IBL). A teaching unit has been created to develop the project, which, in the future, will be useful for the self-application of the program. This study will provide a valid and useful tool to achieve changes in the diet at the school level and will help to promote the social inclusion of people with CD. Moreover, it will enforce the STEAM competences of children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle: The Role of the School)

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