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Introduction
The prevalence of being overweight has increased exponentially, especially among children and adolescents, despite improvements in global health indicators (Bloch et al., 2016). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 39 million children under the age of five are overweight or obese (WHO Obesity). Overweight and obesity in children are linked to more fatalities worldwide than underweight conditions in children. Overweight and obesity are currently regarded as the fifth most important risk factor for mortality globally. More than four million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, according to Global Burden of Disease 2017; (Afshin et al., 2017).
Obesity and various diet-related chronic diseases have been linked to specific dietary behaviors, such as low intake of nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and frequent consumption of ultraprocessed foods (such sweets, cookies and soft drinks). IBGE survey (2015), Souza et al. (2016)). Other harmful behaviors include embracing sedentary lifestyles and skipping meals during the day (Cureau et al., 2016). People who eat more fruits, 100% juice and vegetables (FJV) live longer and may be somewhat protected from a number of malignancies (Glade et al., 1999), heart disease (Joshipura et al., 2001), diabetes mellitus (Tuomilehto, 2001) and possibly even skin aging (Purba, 2001).
At this stage of life, picking one’s own food is seen as a sign of autonomy and a way to alter the social environment (Hare et al., 2015). Because of these traits, school-age children could be the subject of instructional initiatives that encourage lifelong good eating habits (WHO, 2005).
Schools are a key venue for delivering nutrition education to a significant population of children. After two years of program implementation, only one school nutrition education program, which was carried out by professionally qualified teachers, resulted in a significant FJV change (1.6 servings) (Reynolds et al., 2000). Others have had little (Luepkar et al., 1996; Baranowski et al., 2000) or no FJV change (Resnicow et al., 1998). One of these studies showed that the typical classroom instructor only used 50% of the activities that were prescribed by the curriculum, with just 22% of those likely to cause behavior change (Davis et al., 2000). Additionally, data have...