Etude de la composition de la collation matinale (goûter) des enfants scolarisés en primaire dans la région d’Ain Témouchent : Enquête nutritionnelle

Abstract

The afternoon snack, or the morning snack taken in the school sphere is among the eating habits that have taken hold among primary school children in Algeria, for some years. The debate on this eating habit during recess testifies to the way in which this type of meal taken between children crystallizes anxieties about children's diet. Our study focused on an assessment which aims at the interest, the quality and the composition of the daily snack of a population of children enrolled in primary school in Ain Témouchent. This is achieved with the help of a nutritional survey of the parents of the children concerned. The objective was therefore, on the one hand to specify the foods that make up this snack, as well as the form of their intake by noting the various data that have a link or impact on which, and on the other hand to diagnose some nutritional disorders and identify risk factors. The results obtained revealed behaviors that do not comply with the recommendations of nutritionists, as well as numerous nutritional errors related to this meal, namely the existence of children who accumulate bad eating habits at risk for their health: skipping breakfast, heavy consumption of foods with high energy density and low nutritional quality of taste. For this, and according to the data obtained in our survey, we can advise on the one hand not to encourage, or even limit snacks with energy intakes considered excessive, or very rich in simple carbohydrates which can have a negative impact on the health of our children, leading to many pathologies related to metabolic disorders. On the other hand, we can justify the importance of the morning snack, which can alternate an insufficient or non-existent breakfast, fight against this insufficiency, and ensure the coverage of the nutritional needs of the day in our children.