Representações sociais dos pais e/ou responsáveis pelas crianças e pelos/as adolescentes do projeto ações socioeducativas sobre alimentos, nutrição, hábitos alimentares e alimentação saudável

Abstract

This study shows the results of the Compulsory Supervised Internship (ESO), an indispensable component of the Curriculum Matrix of the Bachelor Degree in Home Economics, developed at the Center for Studies and Research on Public Policy for Children and Adolescents -NEPIAD / Department of Domestic Sciences (DCD). / UFRPE, in which the Socioeducational Actions Project for Elementary School Children and Adolescents in public schools of the Recife-PE municipal school is developed.The ESO was developed from August to December 2018 and included a total workload of 360 hours. The object of study of the Compulsory Curricular Internship was constituted of the research entitled "Social representations of the parents and/or guardiansfor the children and adolescents of the project socioeducative actions on food, nutrition, eating habits and healthy eating". Studies consider that food choices and consumption are influenced by individual and collective determinants. Individuals refer to subjectivity, to the knowledge that the individual has about food, nutrition, healthy eating and healthy eating, and those of collective order refer to economic, social and cultural factors. It is understood that in order to promote healthy eating habits, it is necessary for parents (or guardians) to have theoretical and practical knowledge about food, nutrition, healthy eating and other correlated ones, based on the principles of prevention and promotion of health and nutrition. In this direction, assessing the level of vision about food, nutrition, eating habits and healthy eating of the parents and/or those guardiansfor the children and adolescents participating in this project becomes essential in order to intervene in reality and transform it. It is a case study of an explanatory nature and a qualiquantapproach. Data collection was carried out at NEPIAD, based on the application of an interview form containing open and closed questions, concretized with 14 parents and guardiansfor the children and adolescents participating in the project. The results show, through the analysis andunderstanding of the social representations of the interviewees, that, almost all of them do not have theoretical and practical knowledge about food, nutrition, eating habits and healthy eating, and do not even imagine the importance of knowledge on thesesubjects for everyday life, disease prevention and health promotion.The results reflect an empiricist and common-sense view on food, nutrition, eating habits and healthy eating. This may explain why other studies have shown that the consumption and eating patterns of Brazilians in recent decades have undergone significant changes, influenced by social, economic and cultural factors that directly reflect access, choice and consumption of food, therefore, in unhealthy eating behavior. It is suggested that Food and Nutrition Education combined with the development of healthy food practices and the improvement of the economic and social conditions of the less favored populations, should be seen as an effective technique for the development of eating habits and, therefore, promotion of healthy eating.