SCHOOLCHILDREN NUTRITION OF PRIMORSKY KRAI: CURRENT SITUATION, QUALITY, MONITORING

The article presents the results of monitoring of the study on the current state of nutrition of children of different age groups at secondary schools in Primorsky Krai (Vladivostok city, Nakhodka city, Arsenyev town, Lesozavodsk town). Schoolchildren's health directly related to the violation of the principles of rational nutrition has been defined. It has been revealed that the incidence of digestive organs diseases of children and adolescents in Primorsky Krai exceeds the average data across Russia up to 40%. The consumption and deficiency of certain vitamins, micro- and macroelements is also associated with the food factor. The dependence between the quality of food services and the condition of the material and technical base of catering enterprises of educational institutions, the qualification of personnel, and the cost of meals have been established. The level of diseases of children and adolescents directly related to the violation of the principles of rational nutrition which can be a result of the children's lack of basic knowledge about dietary cultures has been determined. The following problems in the organization of catering in schools in Primorsky Krai have been found: violation of the sanitary and epidemiological condition in the kitchens, violation of cooking technology as well as the storage conditions and shelf-life of food products, deviations from food standards, lack of proper documentation confirming the quality and safety of food products etc. Basing on the results of the current research a number of measures aimed at improving the quality of schoolchildren food are proposed. Special attention is paid to the development of a schoolchildren diet plan taking into account regional socio-economic, climatic and other characteristics.