Objetivo: Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal realizado com 200 adolescentes de 15 a 17 anos de duas escolas, sendo uma pública e outra privada. Realizaram-se recordatórios alimentares específicos do lanche escolar referentes aos últimos três dias em que os participantes estiveram na escola. As contribuições calóricas de carboidratos, lipídeos e proteínas foram analisadas com base nas Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). A análise estatística foi realizada pelo software Stata 10.0. Para as comparações entre alunos de escola pública e privada e entre os sexos, foram utilizados os testes t de Student e do χ2. O nível de significância foi fixado em 5%. Resultados: O consumo de lanche escolar foi relatado por 69,5% dos adolescentes. A maioria adquiria esse lanche nas cantinas das escolas: privada (76,0%) e pública (51,0%). Adolescentes de escolas públicas tiveram maior consumo de energia (338,7 versus 286,3 kcal; p=0,043) e carboidratos (52,5 versus 39,3 g; p=0,006). A adequação dos macronutrientes apareceu em metade da amostra: carboidratos (43,9%), proteínas (43,2%) e lipídeos (49,6%). Alunos de escola pública apresentaram maior adequação de carboidratos (p<0,001) e de lipídeos (p<0,001). Meninos apresentaram maior adequação da contribuição calórica de proteínas (55,6 versus 32,9%; p=0,007), enquanto as meninas tiveram maior adequação de carboidratos (52,6 versus 33,3%; p=0,005) e de lipídeos (61,8 versus 34,9%; p=0,006). Conclusão: A inadequação dos macronutrientes mostrou-se elevada no grupo, o que sugere a baixa qualidade do lanche consumido por esses adolescentes.

Objective: This report evaluated nutritional composition of school lunch consumed by teenagers at two schools in São Luís (MA). Methods: Cross-sectional study setting a sample of 200 teenagers aged 15-17 years from two schools, one public and one private. There were undertaken dietary recalls of school lunch of the last three days the teenagers were at school. These dietary data were analyzed according to the Brazilian Table of Food Composition. Carbohydrates, lipids and proteins consumption were compared to the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) recommendations. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata 10.0. For comparisons, there were used Student's t-test and χ2. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: The school lunch consumption was reported by 69.5% of adolescents. Most acquired this snack canteens of schools: private (76.0%) and public (51.0%). Adolescents from public schools had higher energy consumption (338.7 versus 286.3 kcal, p = 0.043) and carbohydrates (52.5 vs. 39.3 g, p = 0.006). The adequacy of macronutrients appeared in half of the sample: carbohydrates (43.9%), protein (43.2%) and lipids (49.6%). Almost the half (43.9%) of teenagers had appropriate carbohydrate intake. This adequacy of carbohydrate was higher between public school students (p<0.001) as well as the adequacy of lipid (p<0.001). Boys had higher adequacy of protein (55.6 versus 32.9%; p=0.007), whereas girls had higher adequacy of carbohydrate (52.6% versus 33.3%; p=0.005) and lipid (61.8 versus 34.9%; p=0.006). Conclusions: The inadequacy of macronutrients was high in the sample, suggesting the low quality of school lunch consumed by these teenagers.