## 4 Discussion
Given that childhood is a critical period for the development of eating habits, it is very important to adopt a healthy diet that includes sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables [23; 24]. Moreover, in many European countries, children's fruit and vegetable consumption does not meet World Health Organization targets [25]. Research suggests that the school environment may be conducive to the frequent, daily consumption of fruit and vegetables, so menus should be based on the high availability and variety of these groups [26; 27]. In schools in Warsaw, fruit is served with lunch, while in Zagreb, it is served as an afternoon snack. Neither of these patterns seems to be correct, as too much food is served for one meal in Warsaw, while in Zagreb, only about one-third of children eat an afternoon snack and miss the fruit serving [8]. Perhaps the best solution would be to serve fruit for a morning snack. According to a study of Dutch children aged 6-9 years, fruits and vegetables served as the only snack (without other products) during the 10:00 am break encouraged children to eat them [26]. We also know that children do not like vegetables in salads and are more likely to eat them if they are served as separate products. School meals can have a positive impact on children's diets, especially when they are planned and prepared according to dietary guidelines. The proposed weekly menu, which was developed on the basis of SMI-LE criteria, is based on current guidelines and dietary recommendations [28; 29; 30; 31]. The answer to the question \"what is a healthy school meal?\" is based on the dietary elements commonly considered important for diet quality: eating fruit and vegetables and starchy foods as a major part of the diet; increasing the consumption of fruit; vegetables (criteria 1-3; 4-5 SMI-LE), especially dark green ones (criterion 3 SMI-LE); legumes (criterion 11 SMI-LE); whole grains (criterion 6 SMI-LE); low-fat dairy products (criterion 9 SMI-LE); lean protein (criterion 14 SMI-LE); and products high in healthy fats, such as fish (criterion 10 SMI-LE). The guidelines also recommend limiting the consumption of highly processed foods, foods high in saturated and trans fats (SMI-LE criteria 7 and 16); fried foods (SMI-LE criterion 17); red meat (SMI-LE criterion 15); added sugars (SMI-LE criterion 16); and sugar-sweetened beverages (SMI-LE criteria 18 and 19); and consuming a variety of foods (all SMI-LE criteria) in appropriate proportions (SMI-LE criterion 20). In general, these most common suggestions are consistent with WHO guidelines [31] and national dietary recommendations [29; 30]. Increasing the frequency of vegetarian meals in school canteens (i.e., meals without meat or fish (SMI-LE criteria 11-13)) was proposed as a theoretical solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the good nutritional quality of meals [32]. SMI-LE was designed to monitor key aspects of diet quality, addressing aspects of health and sustainability that are universal to European countries. From an educational and health perspective, eating a nutritious and balanced lunch every day improves a child's ability to function in the classroom [19]. The results of [PERSON] et al. [15] underlined that school feeding can have a positive impact on the diversity of children's diets, and children who ate numerous and more complex school meals had better quality meals. In addition, children who ate school meals were more likely to consume dark green leafy vegetables than children who ate fewer or no school meals [15]. The results suggest that meals in Croatian schools are prepared mostly from less processed foods [8]. On the other hand, the results of the analysis of the nutritional quality of standard school meals served in 18 primary schools in northern Croatia [33] showed high consumption of cereal products, meat, cakes, and sweets, and a lack of consumption of fruit, vegetables, fish, and legumes.