Food and nutritional education for adolescents: The role as a strategy for healthy eating practices

Abstract

Introduction: Considering school and family as strong influences on the adolescent’s eating behavior, it is important to emphasize the importance of educational activities that lead to adequate food practices, encouraging appropriate health choices.

Objective: To promote the autonomy in the food choices from the reflection of the benefits that the healthy food can cause.

Methodology: Inspired in the Maguerez Arch, the intervention consisted of five meetings held at a school in Vale dos Sinos. The activities were taught by students of the course of nutrition through expositive and dialogic classes. Posters, video and clipping and collage activities were used as pedagogical support materials. Among the topics covered are the ten steps to healthy eating, according to the food guide for the Brazilian population and the impact of food to cells of the human body.

Results: During the interventions, it was possible to verify that as the adolescents appropriated the contents worked, they began to exercise the autonomy of their choices, reflecting positively in their eating habits.

Conclusion: The protagonism was highlighted as a fundamental tool for the adolescent’s empowerment in making healthier food choices, favoring the promotion of health and quality of life.