title: Italian public school: a pilot study about disorders related to nutrition and their management.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To know how Italian nursery and primary schools survey and manage children with food-related problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pilot study during the period March-May 2005, filling out a questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  All nursery and primary schools in a Northern Italian region (Friuli Venezia Giulia).
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 479 eligible schools
  
  
  RESULTS
  Global response rate was of 29.6%. In 77.5% (110/142) of the schools there were children with food-related pathologies. Programs about nutrition were carried out by 44.4% (63/142) of the schools in the previous two years; 9.5% (6/63) dealt with food-related pathologies and 57.1% (36/63) required the intervention of outside experts to have these projects realized. In the same period training courses about nutrition for teachers were conducted in 9.2% (13/142) of the schools.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data provide a first overview of the situation in Italy on food-related topics in children attending nursery and primary schools. Therefore many programs could not rely on funds to be developed, but had to use internal resources of the school.
authors.affiliation: DPMSC School of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy. quattrin.rosanna@auod.sanita.fvg.it
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quattrin
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Toffolini
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turello
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calligaris
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farneti
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brusaferro
mesh_terms: D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires