[Deficient education in health and nutrition in Mexican schools: the topic of salt].

Objective: Given the rapidly increasing rates of adult chronic diseases in Mexico there is a need to assess the knowledge and understanding of these sufferings in relation to an inadequate diet.

Material And Methods: In a randomly selected sample of primary, secondary and high schools in a region of Mexico City, the knowledge of the dietary contributors to chronic disease was assessed by taking the specific example of salt and the knowledge of its importance. Participation encompassed: 1504 students, 890 parents and 27 teachers. An analysis was made of the curricular contribution of the school to nutritional and health knowledge.

Results: Forty five percent of students showed knowledge about the role of salt in health as well as 64.7% and 70% of parents and teachers respectively. Knowledge increased along with age: high school students showed a greater number of correct answers (74.3%) than those from secondary (48.8%) and primary (55.2%) (p < 0.0001). More girls (30.3%) (p < 0.001) answered rightly that industrialized foods contain more salt. No formal lessons are given on any aspects of nutrition or health, but one subject dealing with sexual education.

Conclusion: There is little health education and no nutritional teaching in the studied schools despite the wide ranging of nutritional deficiencies and the national epidemic of chronic diseases in Mexico. A change in the scholastic curriculum in schools, that includes subjects on nutrition and health, is urgently required.