Department of Human Nutrition, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2024 Mar 25;31(1):57-64. doi: 10.26444/aaem/171610. Epub 2023 Sep 15.
Provision of healthy and high-quality school meals is an important solution to improve children's health and well-being. Moreover, the meals provided at schools should not only meet dietary guidelines but also questions of sustainability. The aim of the study was to develop a new index to assess the quality of school meal menus, specifically their accordance with actual regulations, dietary guidelines and some sustainability goals.
The School Meal Index-Lunch Evaluation (SMI-LE) is an originally created index to evaluate the quality of 5-day school menus. The general idea is to reflect the healthy and sustainability issues that should be present in school canteens according to WHO and EU recommendations. The index was tested in a real-life situation and fifty 5-day school menus available online from primary schools located in different regions of Poland, in rural and urban areas, were assessed with SMI-LE.
The median value of SMI-LE equaled 52 /140 points. Most of the analyzed menus (72%) were classified as 'Medium' quality according to SMI-LE. The menus classified as 'Low' were characterized by the lowest energy value, the lowest content of calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and folates, while the highest of sodium. Menus from the 'Good' category had the highest nutritional value, as well as the lowest sodium content.
A novel tool to has been provided for measuring the quality of school meals that addresses health and sustainability issues. It responds to the need for new indices that would consider changes in dietary guidelines and increasing knowledge about the impact of food systems on the environment.
提供健康且高质量的学校膳食是改善儿童健康和福祉的重要解决方案。此外，学校提供的膳食不仅应符合饮食指南，还应考虑可持续性问题。本研究旨在开发一种新的指数来评估学校膳食菜单的质量，特别是其符合实际规定、饮食指南和一些可持续性目标的程度。
学校膳食指数-午餐评估（SMI-LE）是一种用于评估 5 天学校菜单质量的原创指数。其基本理念是根据世界卫生组织（WHO）和欧盟的建议，反映学校食堂应存在的健康和可持续性问题。该指数在现实情况下进行了测试，对来自波兰不同地区（农村和城市）的 50 份在线获取的 5 天学校菜单使用 SMI-LE 进行了评估。
SMI-LE 的中位数为 52/140 分。根据 SMI-LE，大多数分析的菜单（72%）被归类为“中等”质量。被归类为“低”的菜单的特点是能量值最低、钙、镁、铁、钾和叶酸含量最低，而钠含量最高。被归类为“良好”类别的菜单具有最高的营养价值，同时钠含量最低。
提供了一种新的工具来衡量学校膳食的质量，该工具解决了健康和可持续性问题。它满足了对新指数的需求，这些指数将考虑饮食指南的变化以及对食品系统对环境影响的认识的提高。
