
The Study highlights that there has been a slight decrease in the prevalence of excess weight in Spain (from 40.6% in 2019 to 36.1% in 2023). However, the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is inversely proportional to the socioeconomic level of the families, so It is much higher in family environments with lower income (46.7% excess weight in families with incomes of less than 18,000 euros, compared to 29.2% when incomes are greater than 30,000 euros).
The sample was carried out with 12,678 schoolchildren from 296 public and private primary education centers, representative of the school population aged 6 to 9 years residing in Spain.
The Study points out the importance of the school cafeteria to create healthy habits in the child population, through health and hygiene education, educating in values such as responsibility and coexistence, and also helping to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, since it allows schoolchildren, regardless of their family’s socioeconomic level, to access nutritious food. . and healthy on equal terms.
In this sense, it should be noted that the Royal Decree on school cafeteriaswhose objective is to make schools environments that promote healthy and sustainable eating. To this end, the Royal Decree aims to guarantee, on the one hand, the daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and, on the other, that only water is served in meals in school cafeterias, prohibiting sugary drinks in schools.
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