Participation of the mixture rice and beans in the students' common diet of a public and a private school of Maringá/PR

Abstract

In the last three decades, there has been a decline in the consumption of basic and traditional staples of the Brazilian diet, such as rice and beans. This study analyzes the frequency of consumption of rice and beans in 596 students between 6 and 10 years of age, from a private and a public school in Maringá/Pr, using a questionnaire on frequency of food intake and economical status of the families. The data were tabulated in Excel 2003 and statistical tests were analyzed in Statistic 6.0, considering significant differences of p>0.001. Of the total appraised students, 51.2% were females. The economical status between the two analyzed schools was quite disparate. The usual intake frequency of rice happens for most students; however, in the public school there was a greater concentration of intake of this food (75.8%). Beans were consumed much more by the students of the public school; however, 21.6% of students of both schools rarely or never consume beans. Basic staples of the Brazilian diet, such as rice and beans, and healthy food practices, and their intake should be encouraged.