P39 Evaluating School LunchesAdina Friedman, MSc, Community Health Programs,Ashalim – The Association for Planning & Developmentof Services for Children and Youth at Risk & TheirFamilies, JDC Hill, PO Box 3489, Jerusalem, Israel91034, adinaf@jdc.org.il; Shirley Rachmiel, MSc; IritLivneh, MSc; Shachar Schuman

A 2006 survey, amongst 800 pupils in 40 schools, aimedto evaluate the quality of school lunches and conse-quently improve nutritional standards. Food sampleswere taken to a chemical laboratory for nutritional con-tent tests, and dieticians observed food consumption andportion size. Survey results show: 1. Only two schoolshad a full and suitable menu. 2. Most suppliers providedsub-standard quantities of protein and vegetables. 3.Some schools did not provide enough fruit or enoughvariety in vegetarian meals. 4. The meat portions did notalways conform to standards. 5. Laboratory tests revealedlow quality protein portions due to low iron and choles-terol levels. 6. Calorie levels are appropriate for youngerclasses but not older ones. 7. Approximately 50% of theschools provided very high fat content. 8. Sodium levelswere also high in most of the schools. We measuredchildren’s satisfaction based on the percentage that atemore than half of their portion. 50% did not eat mixedsalads at all and 20% did not eat the meat. 25% did noteat grains and 50% did not eat either cooked or rawvegetables. The findings demand significant change andre-organization in nutritional supervision, hygiene super-vision, lab tests for nutritional content and calculatingthe nutritional value of ingredients. An annual surveyshould be conducted to examine the children’s satisfac-tion with their lunches and their food preferences. Thisproject was funded by Ashalim-JDC Israel.

P40 Evaluating Preschool Nutritional Needsand Eating HabitsAdina Friedman, MSc, Community Health Programs,Ashalim – The Association for Planning & Developmentof Services for Children and Youth at Risk & TheirFamilies, JDC Hill, PO Box 3489, Jerusalem, Israel91034, adinaf@jdc.org.il; Shirley Rachmiel, MSc; MiriRoitman, MSc

We conducted a food consumption survey amongst 250children between the ages of 3-6 over one 24-hour pe-riod. The results give us a good impression of the habitsof at-risk preschool children in Israel. The survey exam-ined consumption levels of: milk products, grains, fruitand vegetables, snacks, candies and drinks. Do childrenat risk suffer from particular nutritional deficiencies? Dothey consume too much fat, cholesterol, saturated fats,carbohydrates and sodium? We found differences in foodconsumption and ingredients at different ages. The find-ings revealed very low intakes of iron, calcium and fiber

in contrast to high saturated fats consumption. Childrenat risk eat very few fruits and vegetables, maybe a thirdof their recommended daily intake. None of the childreneat whole wheat breads. They all eat white bread andsweetened corn flakes and scored high on salty and sweetsnack consumption. Close to 50% regularly eat onesnack a day. Approximately 50% do not drink water;approximately 50% drink sweetened drinks. 33% do noteat milk products at all, and close to 50% drink sugar-sweetened milk drinks. Approximately 25% do noteat meat or meat products. It appears children eatmore vegetables, legumes, grains and meat productsat preschool than they do at home. At home they eatmore fruit, milk products, salty snacks, cakes and cook-ies. This project was funded by the Ashalim Agency-JDCIsrael.

P41 Perceptions of Healthy and UnhealthyFoods by Older Mexican Ethnics: A PilotStudyRena Quinton, PhD, RD, Texas A&M University -Kingsville, Department of Human Sciences, 700University Boulevard, MSC 168, kfrkq00@tamuk.edu;Julia Rangel Guido, BS, ksjrg07@hotmail.com

Obesity and diabetes are a growing problem among Hispan-ics, yet research indicates poorer dietary habits are associ-ated with greater acculturation. It is possible that percep-tions of relative healthfulness of foods may be a factor. Thisstudy sought to determine if Mexican ethnics in southTexas perceived traditional foods as less healthy than“American” foods. Semi-structured interviews, in Spanishand English, were completed with a convenience sample of49 older Mexican ethnics in south Texas. An anthropolog-ical technique, the pilesort, was utilized. Subjects sortedindex cards with the names of nine traditional Mexicanfoods and nine “American” foods into four piles. Bothcategories contained fruit, vegetables and high fat foods.Subjects were instructed to sort the cards as to how healthythey perceived these foods. The first pile would be foodsthey perceived as the healthiest, the second somewhat lesshealthy, the third as less healthy than the second pile andthe fourth pile as the least healthy foods. Frequencies weretabulated and the data was also analyzed with Anthropacsoftware. Results indicated that “American” foods tendedto be classified as healthier than traditional Mexican foods.Anthropac multidimensional scaling analysis produced a“healthy” cluster almost entirely of “American” foods, an“unhealthy” cluster with both traditional and “American”foods and a cluster of “traditional” foods. Results suggest apotential need for nutritional education about healthful-ness of traditional Mexican foods. Further research usingmore subjects and intake data would be useful.

S120 Poster Abstracts