Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To discover the cooking habits of school students' families and the full nutritional picture of the school population of Huercal de Almería. To gather the views and attitudes of school students and mothers on the low amount of milk and vegetables consumed. DESIGN: Crossover, descriptive and technical study with focus group. SETTING: Rural area. METHODS: The study had three stages: 1. A questionnaire for all the school students on their food habits (675). 2. A sample of 101 students aged between 4 and 6 and between 10 and 14 was chosen for the nutritional study. Students at nutritional risk in 1996 (95% CI; p.q = 0.25). Intake was analysed through the "memory of 24 hours", measurement of physical details and biochemical determinations. 3. We gathered views and attitudes by the focus group technique in 1997, with 60 girls between 10 and 14 and mothers in 6 groups. MAIN RESULTS: Habits: the most commonly eaten meat was chicken, followed by pork, stewed if possible. Blue and fried fish, full-cream milk, white bread, fresh green vegetables and olive oil. Nutritional study: the students' weight and height were above average. Denutrition was rare: we found three students with a percentile less than three. There was tendency to overweight in both sexes, with cholesterol levels above 200 mgr in the 4-6 group. Hyper-protein and hyper-fatty diet. The Ca/P quotient was P < 1, especially in the 10-14 girls. Consumption of pulses, fibre, cereals and root vegetables was less than the recommended amounts. Micronutrients were sufficient except for less iron in 10 to 14 girls. Focal groups: the four groups of girls coincided in rejection of green vegetables, repeating to some extent habits acquired in their families. Usually vegetables are rejected without having been tried, due to smell, texture and look. Positive knowledge about milk and vegetables was not shown in practice. CONCLUSIONS: Hyper-protein and hyper-fat diet with high cholesterol levels, weight and height above the average and tendency to overweight. They all rejected green vegetables. They repeated family eating habits.