Healthy diet influences the growth and development of individuals as well as the quality of life (Aranceta-Bartrina, Pérez-Rodrigo et al. 2004). It also helps to prevent the occurrence of health problems such as excess of weight, obesity and some related cancers (Vieira and Carvalho 2011). To establish a balanced diet during childhood and adolescence it is essential not only to meet the nutritional requirements that ensure proper growth and development, but also to encourage the acquisition and enhancement of healthy habits that can remain for a lifetime. However, choices made by school age children usually do not take much into account the nutritional needs, but are rather cultural, socio-economic, family and environmental dependent (Loureiro 2004). During adolescence, the habits and food choices tend to reflect a decrease of family influence and an increase of peers’ influence, meaning that adolescents’ personal decisions become a priority, so that school must play an important role in their education (Moreira and Peres 1996; WHO 2006; Currie, Zanotti et al. 2012).

Indeed, the school is a setting where children and adolescents spend most of their time during this life stage in which they are more susceptible to change and to acquire healthy habits (or even unhealthy habits), so school health promotion shows up to be of paramount importance (Aracenta-Bartrina, Pérez-Rodrigo et al. 2008; Vieira and Carvalho 2011; Currie, Zanotti et al. 2012). School health promotion must be seen in a holistic way, therefore the healthy eating topic must be explored not only in connection with other topics in the classroom but also “in the wider life of the school” (IUHPE 2009). Thus, school canteens are one of the important factors in establishing young people’s healthy habits (Aracenta-Bartrina, Pérez-Rodrigo et al. 2008). In addition to educate students to make healthy choices and to acquire and establish healthy eating habits (FEN and FEADRS 2008), canteens are also considered to be socialization spaces in which the pleasure for healthy meals  can be promoted (Atie-Guidalli 2012). Recently, many countries, including Portugal, have developed several actions to improve their regulations as key strategies for promoting healthy eating among young people (Aracenta-Bartrina, Pérez-Rodrigo et al. 2008). Despite the relevance of such important policy regulations for nutritional balanced meals, they do not replace the need for nutrition education since available school meals may be nutritionally balanced but students’ food consumption may not be as balanced as expected due to their own food selection.

Thus, it becomes very important to study not only the food supply but also the students’ food consumption to be able to structure intervention programmes which incorporate strategies that contribute to the promotion of health and prevention of nutrition related diseases (Zancul and Dal Fabbro 2007; Vieira and Carvalho 2011). In this descriptive exploratory case study it was the eating behaviours of students in the school canteen was analysed in terms of their consumption preferences, estimating statistically significant differences between student groups in order to make recommendations that benefit them in the future.

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