Belarusian children will eat right and healthy in schools and kindergartens, the participants of the press conference devoted to the issues of child nutrition in educational institutions said. There are no plans to introduce fast food elements.
“We will definitely not offer fast food to schoolchildren,” said Alla Malakhova, head of the Department of Hygiene for Children and Adolescents of the Republican Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health.
The specialist noted that deep-fried products do not bring any benefit, moreover, they are dangerous. It must be understood that in the process of cooking the same french fries, vegetable oil can be used repeatedly, and it is quite difficult to control this process.
There are no plans to introduce a vegetarian menu in schools either. To such a serious question there should be a scientific approach. Simply removing meat from your diet is not an option. It is impossible to impose such principles of nutrition on a child under 18 years of age. This is fraught with bad consequences.
Alla Malakhova emphasized that four principles are followed in the process of preparing school meals. First, when developing diets, the physiological needs of children must be taken into account. The message is as follows: an adequate energy value of the diet, corresponding to the energy consumption of the child. Secondly, the maximum diversity of the diet, which is the main condition for ensuring its balance. Third, regularity. Fourth, the principle of security. Perhaps this is one of the most important principles.
Alla Malakhova draws attention:
“Probably, nowhere is the approach to security issues as good as in our educational institutions. There is a strict requirement that meals are prepared for each meal, it is forbidden to store cooked food for more than three hours. Although there are points in the rules for public catering when you can store, for example, a cutlet for 12 hours in the refrigerator. There are special requirements for educational institutions that are strictly observed.
