Lunch in all-day schools in North Rhine-Westphalia based on menus and recipes1
- 15.03.2014
- English Articles
- Anna Kufeld
- Kerstin Clausen
- Claudia Krämer
- Mathilde Kersting
Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: July 25, 2013 | Revision accepted: December 09, 2013
Introduction
As all-day schools are becoming increasingly common, adequate catering must be provided for the pupils at lunchtime. According to the Conference of the Ministers of Education and the Arts, all-day schools must provide lunch on days with all-day schooling. It is not specified whether this must be a hot meal, or whether a cold meal is acceptable [1].
Lunch in Germany is normally a hot meal. This contains a different mixture of foods and nutrients than in conventional cold meals [2]. If the pupils are provided with a balanced lunch, all-day schools can provide nutrition that will help children and adolescents from all levels of society to remain healthy [3].
The 2009–2010 “State Survey of Midday Catering in NRW” consisted of a core survey and a detailed survey. The core survey in the total sample provided structural data on the school and its midday catering [4, 5]. In a subsample, the detailed survey collected the nutritional characteristics of the available food on the basis of menus and recipes. These were then evaluated on the basis of the “DGE Quality Standard for School Catering”2 [6] and the hot meal of the “Optimised Mixed Diet” of the Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE) [8]. The present manuscript contains essential data in the detailed survey ( Figure 1).
Summary
As all-day schools are becoming increasingly common, adequate catering must be provided for the pupils at lunchtime. If the children and adolescents are provided with a balanced lunch, this can help them greatly in achieving healthy nutrition. In a subsample of the „State Survey of Midday Catering in NRW“ of all-day schools, the menus and recipes for lunch were compared with the DGE [German Society for Nutrition] Standard and the hot meal of the Optimised Mixed Diet of the FKE. Although the menus consistently made a good impression, this could not be confirmed at the nutrient level. In many cases, the nutrient density of vitamins and minerals was unsatisfactory, particularly when the hot meal of the Optimised Mixed Diet was taken as reference. Evaluation of the menus indicated that most kitchens are making good progress. However, they need more support in improving their recipes.
Keywords: school catering, all-day school, lunch, menus, nutrients, children and adolescents
