[School meals as an area for education in health: the perception of school cooks in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. / Alimentação escolar como espaço para educação em saúde: percepção das merendeiras do município do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

By considering the school as an opportune space for health education, school cooks can play an essential role in the debate as they are directly responsible for the preparation of school meals. The main objective of this study is to highlight the potential of the participation of these professionals in educational processes, acknowledging that they are not merely individuals who perform an activity in the kitchen and dining-hall areas. In order to achieve this, a quantitative survey was conducted followed by a descriptive analysis of the data by performing a chi-square test and factor analysis. Some changes in social and economic aspects and in the form of hiring the cooks were identified. However, it was also ascertained that the acknowledgement of this professional as an actor in health education still depends upon a series of transformations in the structure, values and concepts regarding the important role that they perform and the most effective way of incorporating them in the educational environment.

Alimentacao escolar como espaco para educacao em saude: percepcao das merendeiras do municipio do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil / School meals as an area for education in health: the perception of school cooks in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ao considerar a escola como um espaço para a educação em saúde, as merendeiras ocupam lugar central no debate por serem as responsáveis diretas pelo preparo da alimentação. Assim, o presente estudo tem por principal objetivo indicar as possibilidades da participação dessas importantes componentes nos processos educativos, reconhecendo que elas não se resumem a indivíduos que desenvolvem mera atividade no "espaço cozinha-refeitório". De modo a atingir sua consecução, utilizou-se uma abordagem quantitativa, com base no método de pesquisa Survey: Para delineamento dos dados, foram realizadas análises descritivas, além do teste de associação Qui-Quadrado e métodos de análise fatorial. Por fim, identificaram-se alterações em algumas características socioeconômicas e na forma de contratação das merendeiras. No entanto, também restou comprovado que o reconhecimento de seu papel como agente da educação em saúde ainda depende de uma série de transformações na estrutura, valores e concepções sobre o relevante trabalho que desenvolvem e as mais eficazes formas de sua inserção no ambiente escolar.

By considering the school as an opportune space for health education, school cooks can play an essential role in the debate as they are directly responsible for the preparation of school meals. The main objective of this study is to highlight the potential of the participation of these professionals in educational processes, acknowledging that they are not merely individuals who perform an activity in the kitchen and dining-hall areas. In order to achieve this, a quantitative survey was conducted followed by a descriptive analysis of the data by performing a chi-square test and factor analysis. Some changes in social and economic aspects and in the form of hiring the cooks were identified. However, it was also ascertained that the acknowledgement of this professional as an actor in health education still depends upon a series of transformations in the structure, values and concepts regarding the important role that they perform and the most effective way of incorporating them in the educational environment.