Preparing a Balanced Snack Requires Thoughtful Planning and Execution
Every day, more than 200,000 meals are prepared, distributed, and consumed in Slovenian kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. These meals are not just a logistical achievement of the system, but an important public health measure. For many children, they represent a significant portion of daily food intake, often the most balanced meal of the day.
At a time when children's dietary habits are increasingly shaped by aggressive marketing of highly processed foods, widespread availability of energy-dense and nutrient-poor food, and the influence of the food industry, organized nutrition in educational institutions is becoming one of the key spaces for developing balanced habits [1]. Despite this, those who oversee this system on a daily basis remain almost invisible.
Nutrition coordinators in educational institutions are crucial for ensuring nutritional quality, food safety, and increasingly, sustainable practices. Their decisions directly affect what our children eat, how often they reach for certain foods, and what relationship with food they develop. In practice, however, their work is often not adequately recognized or systemically supported.
When Theory Meets Practice
Long-standing experience in the field of nutrition organization in educational institutions clearly shows how important this role is and, at the same time, how often it remains undervalued. Not only at the state level, but also within institutions, where it should have clear professional weight.
If we want to understand why nutrition organization in educational institutions is demanding, we must start from a simple fact: a menu on paper means nothing if it is not executed with quality in practice.
And execution is the most challenging part of the process.
Positive Role Modeling by Adults is Crucial in Forming Good Dietary Habits
A nutrition coordinator alone cannot significantly improve children's dietary habits. Their work necessarily depends on cooperation with all stakeholders in the institution. First among them are pedagogical staff, who are in direct contact with children daily. Their example carries exceptional weight, especially in kindergarten, but remains important in primary and secondary school as well.
Research consistently shows that a significant proportion of children do not meet recommendations for fruit, vegetable, and regular meal consumption, while often reaching for energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods [2]. This means that every contact a child has with balanced nutrition and every example and encouragement from an adult plays an important role.
If a pedagogical worker understands their influence, they can achieve a lot with simple but consistent approaches: they encourage tasting, strengthen positive attitudes toward food, and reduce resistance to the unfamiliar. Research shows that the social environment, adult role modeling, and the way food is offered play a key role in shaping children's dietary habits [3].
This requires a clear division of roles. The nutrition coordinator must systematically include even less popular dishes in menus, while the professional staff must create conditions through consistent and positive encouragement in which children will be willing to try them. This approach is also supported by research data showing that children do eat the varied diet that is regularly offered to them in a supportive environment [4].
Only with such a coordinated approach is it possible to ensure that most children gradually accept most meals.
School Kitchen: A Space Where Healthy Nutrition is Realized or Nullified
A Cook in a School Kitchen Preparing a Meal
Quality food preparation in the school kitchen is crucial for successful menu implementation
The second key link in the system is the kitchen. In practice, it depends on the kitchen staff whether a child receives a nutritionally quality meal or just a formally executed menu.
The method of food preparation is not a technical detail, but a decisive factor in meal quality. The kitchen makes decisions every day that directly affect the nutritional profile of dishes: whether food is prepared from basic ingredients or semi-prepared products, how much salt the dishes contain, whether whole grain or refined foods are used, and how much sugar is added to desserts prepared in the kitchen.
The differences are not negligible. Food prepared from basic ingredients, with consideration for limitations in the use of sugar, salt, and fats, generally has a significantly better nutritional composition. However, this requires knowledge, time, and support.
The consequences of inadequate food preparation are visible very quickly. If a child tries a dish that is poorly prepared—for example, overcooked buckwheat porridge, overcooked pasta, or pumpkin soup from bitter pumpkin—they will not only reject it, but their willingness to try it again will also decrease. Not only is one meal lost, but also an opportunity for learning and accepting new, balanced dishes [3].
Therefore, the work of the nutrition coordinator does not only include menu planning. An important part of their role is also constant professional guidance of kitchen staff, checking recipes, and raising awareness about the importance of quality food preparation.
However, this requires time, professional presence, and appropriate organizational conditions.
The Role of the Principal: A Decisive Factor in the Nutrition System in Educational Institutions
A Blackboard with the Word Snack and Balanced Foods
A systematic approach to nutrition must be supported at the institution's management level
If we had to highlight one single factor that in practice determines the quality of nutrition in an educational institution, it is the role of the principal.
Nutrition in educational institutions is not an isolated subsystem. It is part of organizational culture, priorities, and management decisions. Through their decisions, the principal directly determines whether nutrition will be treated as a logistical necessity or as an important educational and public health element.
This is Not Reflected in Declarative Guidelines, But in Concrete Decisions:
- how much professional autonomy the nutrition coordinator has,
- whether nutrition is included in the institution's annual work plan,
- whether pedagogical staff are systematically guided in supporting nutritional goals,
- and whether conditions for quality meal preparation are ensured.
In an environment where nutrition goals are clearly defined, roles are coordinated, and responsibility is shared, the nutrition coordinator can perform their work professionally, systematically, and with actual effects in practice, not just at the planning level.
The Myth of Public Procurement in Public Institutions
One of the most persistent myths in the school nutrition system is that public procurement prevents the purchase of quality food. This is not true.
Public procurement can be an extremely effective mechanism for ensuring quality food at accessible prices, often more favorable than in free trade. What is decisive is how technical specifications, selection criteria, and food quality requirements are formulated in the public procurement procedure. This is also confirmed by legislation, as the Public Procurement Act (ZJN-3) [5] in Article 84 enables selection based on the most economically advantageous offer, which includes not only price but also quality and other professional criteria.
Education About Healthy Nutrition Must Be Supported by Quality Meals in Practice
The nutrition coordinator has a central professional role in this. They formulate specifications, determine criteria, and cooperate with suppliers. That is precisely why it is essential that they act professionally, decisively, and without compromises regarding quality.
The quality of food in educational institutions is therefore not limited by legislation, but by the way it is applied in practice.
An Invisible Role with Visible Consequences
Experience from practice clearly shows that implementing balanced nutrition in educational institutions is not simple. There are many reasons why it is challenging. But there are just as many reasons why it is necessary.
If we want children to truly develop sustainable and healthy dietary habits, the nutrition coordinator must lead with a clear and professionally justified position: balanced nutrition is the rule, not a choice.
Therefore, the responsibility of all of us who co-create nutrition in educational institutions is concrete and measurable. A professionally planned menu is the foundation, but its true value is shown only in consistent execution and in how many children actually eat a quality meal.
For professional support in implementing changes, upgrading the system, or transferring practice-tested approaches in the field of balanced nutrition, I am available at maja.berlic@hflinstitute.eu.
References
- Fernandez-Jimenez, R., et al., Children Present a Window of Opportunity for Promoting Health. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2018. 72(25): p. 3310-3319.
- Jeriček Klanšček H., in sod., Z zdravjem povezana vedenja v šolskem obdobju med mladostniki v Sloveniji. 2023, NIJZ: https://nijz.si/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HBSC_e_verzija_pop_2023-2.pdf.
- Scaglioni, S., et al., Factors Influencing Children's Eating Behaviours. Nutrients, 2018. 10(6).
- Berlic, M., T. Battelino, and M.J.N. Korošec, Can Kindergarten Meals Improve the Daily Intake of Vegetables, Whole Grains, and Nuts among Preschool Children? A Randomized Controlled Evaluation. Nutrients, 2023. 15(18): p. 4088.
- Zakon o javnem naročanju (ZJN-3), Ur.l.RS št. 91/15; 14/18; 121/21; 10/22; 74/22