Abstract
About 7.3 million children are estimated to be out of school in Nigeria; majority of them are girls. The Federal Gov-ernment school feeding programme is to provide one meal per school day to all primary school pupils in Nigeria with the objectives of improving the health of school age children, increase their enrolment, retention and completion rate in the primary school. The nutritional status of 160 pupils (80 boys and 80 girls) of a selected public primary school in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria was assessed using anthropometric parameters. Meals were collected and analyzed for nutrient composition and compared to the requirement for their age group. The mid-arm circumference (MAC) ranged between 15 and 21 mm and the body mass index, (BMI) was within the WHO reference standard for healthy children. The crude protein (CP) content of the served foods varied between 12% and 28%. The average intake of amino acids per meal ranged between 122 and 684 mg, vitamins from 0.1 to 0.8 mg while mineral intake varied from 2.7 to 85 mg. The protein digestibility corrected amino acid score varied between 50% and 114%. These results indicated that the feeding programme has greatly improved the nutrition status of these children. The continuation of the programme would go a long way to preventing malnutrition among the public school children.
Highlights
The protein digestibility corrected amino acid score varied between 50% and 114%. These results indicated that the feeding programme has greatly improved the nutrition status of these children
School feeding programme has been adopted in many countries throughout the world to fight short-term hunger by ensuring at least one daily nutritious meal to support access to education
The objective of this research is to carry out the anthropometric measurements of the pupils; predict the nutritional status of the school children; carry out the nutrient analysis of the school meals; calculate the nutrient intake therefrom and compare it with Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for children
Summary
School feeding programme has been adopted in many countries throughout the world to fight short-term hunger by ensuring at least one daily nutritious meal to support access to education. The high level of food insecurity, significant incidence of malnutrition and economic meltdown all combine to make school feeding relevant [1]. In the poorest pockets of the world, this simple strategy can double primary school enrolment in one year, as is happening in Nigeria. For a child suffering from hunger, going to school is not important; having enough food to eat is. There is often not enough food at home, and most schools in the developing countries do not have a canteen or cafeteria. Children become distracted and have problems concentrating on the school lessons [2]
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