Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-j4x9h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-08T08:28:33.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Estimation of the availability of iron in the school meals of Municipal Centers for Early Childhood Education of a capital city in northeastern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2023

Amanda de Araújo Lima
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Laudilse de Morais Souza
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Gabriel Soares Bádue*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Alcides da Silva Diniz
Affiliation:
Federal University of Pernambuco, Health Sciences Center, Department of Nutrition, Recife, Brazil
Luiz Gonzaga Ribeiro Silva-Neto
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Nassib Bezerra Bueno
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
João Araújo Barros-Neto
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Daniel da Silva Vasconcelos
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Nathálya da Silva Severino
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Vanessa Amorim Peixoto
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Karla Emanuelle Pereira de Vasconcelos
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
Terezinha da Rocha Ataíde
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Faculdade de Nutrição, Maceio, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author: Gabriel Soares Bádue, email gabriel.badue@fanut.ufal.br
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The final stage of Fe deficiency is Fe deficiency anaemia, with repercussions for human health, especially in children under 5 years of age. Studies conducted in Brazilian public daycare centres show high prevalence of anaemia. The present study aims to evaluate the availability of Fe in the meals of the Municipal Centers of Early Childhood Education in Maceió. The experimental design comprises selection of algorithms, menu evaluation, calculation of the estimates, comparison between the estimates obtained and the recommendations, and analysis of correlation between meal constituents, and of the concordance between the absorbable Fe estimates. Four algorithms were selected and a monthly menu consisting of 22 d. The correlation analysis showed a moderate positive correlation to animal tissue (AT) v. non-heme iron (r = 0·42; P = 0·04), and negative to AT v. Ca (r = −0·54; P = 0·09) and Ca v. phytates (r = −0·46, P = 0·03). Estimates of absorbable Fe ranged from 0·23 to 0·44 mg/d. The amount of Fe available, unlike the total amount of Fe offered, does not meet the nutritional recommendations on most school days. The Bland–Altman analysis indicated that the Monsen and Balinfty and Rickard et al. showed greater agreement. The results confirm the need to adopt strategies to increase the availability of Fe in school meals.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Flow chart of algorithm selection.

Figure 1

Table 1. Description of the main constituents present in the menu*

Figure 2

Table 2. Correlation matrix between constituents present in the meals of the monthly menu of the MCECE of Maceió-AL, in March 2020

Figure 3

Table 3. Estimates of absorbable iron and efficiency of iron absorption from the monthly menu of the MCECE in Maceió-AL, in March 2020*

Figure 4

Table 4. Number of days of compliance with the recommendations of total iron and of absorbable iron according to each algorithm in the 22 d of monthly menu from March 2020 at the CMEI in Maceió-Alagoas

Figure 5

Fig. 2. Graphical representation of the agreement between estimates of dietary Fe availability obtained by the indicated algorithms. MB, Monsen and Balintfy(25); S, Singer et al.(26); D, Du et al.(27); R, Rickard et al.(28) RMSE, root of the mean square error between the measurements obtained with the two algorithms. p, linear regression analysis between the differences and the means.