Promotion of healthy eating habits by schools: a methodological proposal for training courses for educators and school cafeteria owners

The project entitled Promotion of Health Eating Habits by Schools, operating in the Federal District of Brazil since 2001, encourages good eating habits in the school community within the context of promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing chronic non-communicable diseases. The current article presents and analyzes a methodology to train preschool and elementary educators and school cafeteria owners. The workshops included theoretical classes, practical activities, and educational games and were evaluated on the basis of expansion and applicability of knowledge, in addition to implementation of the 10 steps to a healthy school cafeteria. The proposed pedagogical activities were verified by an analysis of the teachers' workshop folders. The overall evaluation was positive, with expansion of knowledge (p < 0.05) among participants for the three workshop modules. The objectives laid out in the workshop folders were reached by 44% of the teachers. In the implementation of the healthy cafeteria, positive results were observed when comparing the pre and post-training periods. The methodology helped expand knowledge for both teachers and cafeteria owners, highlighting the school community as a prime space for promoting healthy eating.