Reformulation of snacks offered to children and adolescents at school kiosks: is this strategy enough or just the tip of the iceberg?

Abstract

Several studies have reported high overweight and obesity incidence among schoolchildren andadolescents, who mostly consume packaged snacks with critical nutrients exceeding the criteria ofinternational profiling systems during school breaks. Then, the objectives of this work were toreformulate a snack consumed by Argentinian schoolchildren and adolescents (aged 6–13years) todecrease its critical nutrient contents and to determine if this product would still be accepted.Chocolate chip vanilla cookies were selected for reformulation considering each recommendedcut-off point for critical nutrients, since a prohibition of products with warning octagons beingoffered at schools would come into effect in Argentina. These cookies received good acceptabilityscores (above 3 of 5 points) and would be consumed by 8 of 10 schoolchildren in a sample of200 participants. These findings underscore the importance of legislation promoting awareness ofhealthier eating habits and increasing the availability of healthier food options in schools.