Raquel Braz Assunção Botelho

Context: The growing demand for meals outside the home has boosted the food service sector, but there are constant concerns regarding the nutritional quality of the meals offered. In this scenario, menus play a strategic role in promoting health and in defining population dietary patterns. Objective: This integrative review aimed to identify the instruments used to evaluate menus in food service settings across different contexts and target audiences. Data Sources: This is an integrative review with a systematic search in the LILACS, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, with controlled and uncontrolled descriptors. Original studies published between 2003 and 2025 that described the development of menu evaluation instruments aimed at healthy food service were included. Data Extraction: Data were extracted on the characteristics of the instruments, including target population, food service setting, scope, evaluation approach, assessment perspectives, number of items, country of development, and validation status. Data Analysis: Data were summarized using descriptive statistics, including absolute and relative frequencies. A total of 29 studies were included, with a predominance of instruments aimed at children’s menus (55.2%) and with a qualitative approach (72.4%). Brazil had the largest number of developed instruments, followed by Spain, the United States, and Portugal. Only 58.6% of the instruments presented some type of validation. The instruments varied in scope (menu or menu + context), evaluation method (qualitative, quantitative, or qualitative-quantitative), and the number of perspectives covered, with 10.3% multidimensional (ie, having 4 or more dimensions). Conclusion: The review showed advances in evaluating menus for the child population and in incorporating sustainability as an analytical parameter. However, gaps remain in validation and the development of multidimensional instruments, underscoring the need for validated and adapted tools to promote healthier, more sustainable menus.

Background: The decline in traditional cooking practices and the increased consumption of ready-to-eat meals have raised concerns about dietary quality and health, especially among university students. Nutrition students, despite their academic training, often struggle to translate theoretical knowledge into healthy eating practices. Culinary classes in academic settings have emerged as promising strategies to enhance both cooking skills (CS) and eating competence (EC). Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a 12-month cooking class program on the development of culinary skills and eating competence among nutrition students at a public university in Brazil. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted with 42 nutrition students who completed a structured questionnaire at three time points: baseline, after 6 months, and after 1 year of participation in sequential cooking-related subjects. Data were collected using the Brazilian Cooking Skills and Healthy Eating Questionnaire (QBHC) and the Brazilian version of the Satter Eating Competence Inventory (ecSI2.0™BR). Statistical analyses included a repeated-measures ANOVA and a Pearson correlation. Bonferroni post hoc comparisons were conducted following the repeated-measures ANOVA to identify the time points at which significant differences occurred. Results: Participants, predominantly young females (78.6%, mean age 21.07 ± 2.71 years), demonstrated high CS at baseline and showed significant improvements over time (p < 0.05). At baseline, 59.5% of participants (n = 25) were considered competent eaters (EC ≥ 32). Knowledge in cooking terms and techniques increased after one year (p = 0.023). EC mean scores classified participants as competent eaters at the beginning and after one year, with an increase in the internal regulation domain. Improvements in technical culinary knowledge were associated with gains in contextual skills. Conclusions: Participation in structured cooking classes positively influenced the development of CS and EC internal regulation among nutrition students.

The present study aims to compare the chemical composition of samples of jerked beef commercialized in Brasilia, Brazil, subjected to diverse desalting techniques (room temperature, refrigerated, and heat desalting). This experimental study was divided into five steps: determination of desalting techniques, chemical composition, determination of titratable acidity and pH, sodium analysis of the samples, and statistical analysis. The control samples showed high sodium levels (>6000 mg/100 g), confirming the need for desalting to ensure suitability for consumption. Desalting at room temperature was the most efficient, reducing sodium content by up to 76%, followed by refrigeration (67–74%) and the heat method (52–58%). It was also observed that the desalting technique significantly affects the chemical composition. Desalting at room temperature and under refrigeration increased moisture (54.12→73.82 g/100 g) and reduced proteins (23.50→18.70 g/100 g) and lipids (3.70→3.00 g/100 g) through a dilution effect, while desalting in heat concentrated solids, increasing protein (31.29 g/100 g), lipids (4.19 g/100 g), and lipid oxidation (TBARS = 91.79 µmol MDA/kg) in comparison to control samples (38.63 µmol MDA/kg). Acidity and pH showed minor variations but correlated with lipid oxidation processes. Although no technique eliminates excess sodium, the results reinforce that desalting at room temperature offers the best balance between sodium reduction and preservation of the product’s nutritional quality and oxidative stability, making it the most suitable method for use in restaurants and at home.

Background: Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policies in Brazil aim to ensure a broad spectrum of rights and were formulated based on the complex relationship among the State, Society, and Market in the capitalist order. The human right to adequate food (HRAF) is reflected in the guidelines of the National School Feeding Program (Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar—PNAE), which is implemented and monitored by the National Education Development Fund (Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Educação—FNDE). The PNAE consolidates part of the strategies adopted by the Brazilian State to combat hunger among children and adolescents and promote healthy habits by offering food in schools. However, there is no recent evaluation on the aspects of management, financing, and monitoring of the PNAE in the Brazilian Federal District. Objective: This study aims to contribute to the debate on health promotion and the right to adequate food by analyzing documents and legislation in force until 2024 related to the PNAE, as well as those that maintain a correlation with food and nutritional security policies in Brazil, verifying the scope and guarantee of rights and their applicability based on a critical analysis of the selected database. Methods: Brazilian official documents and legislation related to FNS and school meals were reviewed for inclusion in the database. The historical-dialectical materialist method was employed for content analysis, and the analyzed documents underwent a critical reading and the coding process, grouping common themes, utilizing MaxQda^® software for support. Results: The word cloud (20 words) shows that the document groups emphasize food as a right, with 6038 occurrences found and relating to the “rights” approach with 2365 occurrences found, highlighting words related to FNS policies. Public actions to achieve health and food supply were expressed through the words “public” (381 occurrences) and “DHAA” (510 occurrences). The code cloud highlights social control as the most frequently attributed code in the set of documents, with 105 codified segments, indicating that democratic control and societal participation are crucial for achieving the PNAE’s objectives. Conclusions: The analyses underscored the importance of social control, as evidenced by the exploration of the research corpus and demonstrated in the code cloud. The role of monitoring and social control falls to the School Feeding Council (CAE), being the body responsible for verifying compliance with the Program’s objectives, enabling the adoption of timely measures to correct the PNAE’s course and contribute to achieving its objectives.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to translate the Child Coeliac Disease Food Attitudes and Behaviours Scale (Child CD-FAB) into Brazilian Portuguese and to evaluate its reproducibility and internal consistency. Methods: Three steps were carried out: (i) translation and cultural adaptation of the Child CD-FAB into Brazilian Portuguese; (ii) pre-test; and (iii) psychometric evaluation of the Child CD-FAB-BR. The Child CD-FAB was translated and back-translated, and then discussed with and approved by the author of the original instrument. The translated version was tested on five children and adolescents (aged 8 to 16 years) with coeliac disease to assess comprehension. Subsequently, psychometric evaluation used responses from 20 participants with the same characteristics, assessing reproducibility (test–retest reliability) via intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency via Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The Child CD-FAB was successfully translated to Brazilian Portuguese (Child CD-FAB-BR), and it presented good internal consistency (α = 0.892) and an excellent intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.923). Conclusions: The Child CD-FAB-BR is the first instrument to evaluate food attitudes and behaviours in Brazilian children and adolescents with CD, showing good psychometric properties. This instrument will support future research and clinical practice by guiding behaviour-based strategies to enhance nutritional education and public policies for this group.