Midday Meal Research Articles

Mid-Day Meal Analytics Using Machine Learning

The concept is to prevent the wastage of food from the mid-day meal scheme and to identify the fraudulence that is being happened in the mid-day meal scheme. In this process, QR-code reader is used to the number of students is enroll their count for food within some pre-determined time through their ID card. A touch screen display is placed at the food issuing place which shows the menu for a particular day. Food can be monitored through a Web camera and it also placed at the food issuing place take snapshot of every individual student which provides the count of students reported with the required students count the amount of food needs to be prepared for that day is known. This snapshot photo is compared with the photo taken by the Web camera at the place where the food is prepared. The Raspberry-pi is to process the machine learning concept to identify the meal. To develop the mobile application to send the notification to a higher authority when fraudulence action is detected via camera.

Entre normas socioculturais e dietéticas: o almoço para nutricionistas e mulheres leigas brasileiras, espanholas e francesas

Over the course of the past few decades, the scientific rationale on nutrition has consolidated, intensifying the dissemination of dietary norms that dictate what and when to eat to guarantee good health. There is an increase in the interconnection between dietary norms and sociocultural norms. This study seeks to understand this link through the analysis of discourses of Brazilian, Spanish and French dietitians and laywomen. With this in mind, the sociocultural and dietary norms related to the midday meal were analyzed. Comparative and qualitative synchronous methodology, based on 131 semi-structured individual interviews, was used. The discourses of the informants were cross-checked with the public health messages on nutrition of each country. The analyses revealed that each nationality has particular codes that define the specifics of each meal, from the sociocultural and dietary point of view. The definition of a "healthy" meal depends on factors ranging from the nutritional and physiological to the social, cultural and symbolic dimensions linked to each meal model, determining the rituals, frequency, use and classification of food products. Thus, the norms that define what is perceived as healthy similarly result from sociocultural normative systems.

Burden of malnutrition among school-going children in a slum area of Kolkata: A matter of concern

Background:Malnutrition is still a great barrier to the growth and development of children, especially in India. Children from the underprivileged sections of the society like slum children are more vulnerable to both undernutrition and overnutrition. This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of malnutrition among school-going children in a slum area of Kolkata and to elicit the association of nutritional status with parental education.Methods:A cross-sectional observational study was conducted from November 2017 to May 2018 among 508 school-going children of 6 years to 19 years of age in slums of Chetla, Kolkata. Out of three coeducation high schools catering to those children, two schools were randomly selected. 254 participants from each school were selected using systematic random sampling. Students, unwilling to participate and/or whose parents denied providing informed written consent were excluded. After the interview by a predesigned, pretested schedule, their anthropometric examination was conducted.Results:Prevalence of stunting and severe stunting was present in 9.4% and 1.2% of subjects whereas the prevalence of thinness was 23.6% among them. The prevalence of overnutrition was 11%. Boys are more stunted (OR = 2.13, P = 0.013) and thin (OR = 1.73, P = 0.011) than girls. Poor parental education was significantly associated with both undernourishment (stunting and thinness) as well as overweight and obesity.Conclusion:Substantial burden of double malnutrition was observed among school-going slum children. Parental education had an important role to prevent malnutrition of their children. Thus, periodic growth monitoring with the strengthening of the Mid-Day Meal program and awareness generation campaigns regarding malnutrition among parents of slum children are highly needed.

Maasai students’ encounter with formal education: Their experiences with and perceptions of schooling processes in Monduli, Tanzania

Employing an ethnographic research design, this study examined the Maasai students’ experiences with and their perceptions of formal schooling processes in Monduli, Tanzania. The study drew on classroom observations, interviews with four (4) heads of schools, and focus groups with 31 teachers and 70 students. The results demonstrated the predominance of teacher-centred and rote-learning approaches, as well as poor interactions between students and teachers in the classrooms. Equally, the results revealed not only tough and challenging school experiences for the Maasai students due to the lack of support from parents, long walking distances, and the absence of midday meals but also strong cultural tensions caused by difficulties in reconciling the requirements of the traditional life with those of the formal schooling. Alongside fundamental reforms in educational policies and practices, the findings suggest the need for school-based professional development programmes, which can sensitise teachers working in Maasailand to culturally responsive curricula and learner-centred pedagogies for the Maasai students in the classroom contexts.

Sustainability of Healthy Nutritional Policy Interventions for School Children: A Case Study of Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Odisha, India

Sustainability of Healthy Nutritional Policy Interventions for School Children: A Case Study of Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Odisha, India

Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions on Eating Behaviour of Primary School Students: A Qualitative Study

This study explores the perceptions involved in the healthy eating behaviour of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade students in a primary level community school in Nepal. A total, ten observations during mid-day meal and three focus group discussions were conducted among teachers and parents. Sixty students from grade one to three, five teachers and sixteen parents took part in the study. All the participating teachers and parents were engaged in dialogue conferences during focus groups and students’ eating behaviours were observed by the teachers and parents during tiffin time throughout the study. Thematic-content analysis based on the qualitative approach was used on the collected data from the field notes during a series of participant observations and focus group discussions. It is found that the family norms and feeding culture around a child’s domestic life have an active role in establishing and promoting healthy habits that persists throughout. It is also noted that parental food habits and feeding strategies are the most dominant determinants of children eating behaviour and food choices of mid-day meal during tiffin time at the school. It is recommended that parents and teachers should expose their children and students to a range of good food choices and acting as positive role models. 

Assessing the Impact of Public-Private Funded Midday Meal Programs on the Educational Attainment and Well-being of School Children in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract
 The provision of meals at schools is considered to have the potential to enhance human dignity and facilitate equitable access to students from low socio-economic backgrounds, low social status (including Caste) and poor households. Using students and teachers from public schools in Utter Pradesh also known to be India’s most populous and poorest state as it’s as its unit of analysis, the paper examines the impact on International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) led Midday Meal (MDM) School Feeding program in India on educational access, performance, participation, and wellbeing. The study sought to evaluate the implementation of the midday meal (MDM) program led by an INGO in Lucknow, Utter Pradesh, and India to ascertain if the strategic program implementation protocols also ensure social inclusion and held address various forms of discrimination commonly reported in the literature. The study revealed that students were satisfied with most of the implementation of the program, serving and food satisfaction indicators. Nevertheless, we argue that the implantation process could benefit from a more integrated inter-agency coordination so as to address concerns regarding at-risk children and improve sanitation and health facilities that are not directly associated with the MDM program. The study concludes that INGOs led MDM programs could serve as a model for inclusive and non-discriminatory school feeding system where all children, irrespective of their social, economic, religious and family backgrounds will equally benefit with dignity. Such an approach, we argue, could also enhance social equity, youth development and the attainment of the SDG targets in India.

Pre-Implementation Perceptions Among Teachers on the Use of Ecological Sanitation and Application of Human Urine as Fertilizer

Although human urine contains nutrients for plant growth, very few community schools in Nepal use a urine diversion dry toilet (UDDT) and apply the human urine as fertilizer in their school garden. Using human urine in agriculture reduces the use of chemical fertilizers, thus saving the expenditure associated with it. Application of human urine improves the soil fertility and may contribute to increased food security among school children if the school can supply the canteen with food for mid-day meals. This study adopted a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach in order to understand stakeholder perspectives and involve them in the planning and implementation of urine diverting toilets. The data for this study were collected from five teachers’ focus group discussions. This paper presents teachers’ perceptions of the urine diversion dry toilet system and use of human urine as a fertilizer for the school garden. Only a few teachers accepted that human urine could be used as fertilizer, however, they were not willing to use it on their crops since it was considered impure. Due to a perceived bad odor and the uncomfortable sitting position on the UDDT, particularly for females, teachers disliked this toilet and they felt using urine as fertilizer was unnecessary. One of the key lessons drawn from the study is that schools, in collaboration with local governments, should employ participatory approaches to understanding and engaging local stakeholders, including teachers, to minimize negative perceptions prior to the application of human urine as fertilizer in the school garden.

Evaluation of Disposable Bed Sheets and Safety Guidelines for Black Dog Sex Workers Resumes in the New Normal Living with Burnside Pharmacy Institute in Pune University

Indian government eased isolation measures and introduced social distancing, as bars and nightclubs nationwide reopened in Low to high side category employees can villain. This has undergone and final result has publishing after the examination of skin pulp of angry employees according to their physic and anatomy of hair. Angry employees has more likely to engage in unethical behaviour at work, a new study has revealed. Researcher has seen poverty during early service. Also, when working in the power politics institute in Pune University researcher observed that trustee take poor employees to bed hungry. To control crime researcher realised that they have to go to ethical college where they will get a mid-day meal

Consumer segmentation based on situational appropriateness ratings: Partial replication and extension

Perceived situational appropriateness crucially informs decisions about what to eat and drink, and this contextual-cognitive factor of food choice helps to understand why in certain situations, despite high acceptability, a non-consumption decision is made. Being shaped primarily by accumulated experience and familiarity, appropriateness is influenced by culture, but inter-individual variability within populations also exists. Consumer segmentation based on appropriateness ratings was recently reported in work with Australian consumers, with segment differences relating to how adaptive or conforming consumers’ perceptions were of appropriateness for a range of foods and beverages (F&B) for use in daily main eating occasions [Jaeger et al.; Fd. Qual. Pref., 2019, e103701]. Believing in the strength and value of cumulative evidence, the present research was informed by the broad paradigm of replication and extension. This directed that empirical execution, data analysis and reporting strategy directly and extensively defined this work. In two studies with consumers from Denmark (n = 780) and New Zealand (NZ, n = 448), partial replication was achieved for situationally Adaptive and Conforming consumer segments in regard to breakfast, lunch and dinner (morning, midday and evening meals, respectively). Extending to three different eating occasions in NZ, partial replication of Adaptive and Conforming consumer segments was obtained. It appeared that these segments exist for some but not all eating occasions and that cultural differences are also at play. The present research also replicated the relationship between perceived appropriateness and F&B liking/disliking, whereby liked products can be both appropriate and inappropriate, depending on the eating occasions. Consumer segments based on appropriateness ratings had similar profiles, which also replicated Jaeger et al. (2019).

Association of Socio-economic Variables with Nutritional Status of Mid-Day Meal Beneficiaries

Association of Socio-economic Variables with Nutritional Status of Mid-Day Meal Beneficiaries

Assessment of Micronutrient Intake of Primary School Children through Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic in India

The planet is now suffering from COVID-19 pandemic. Since there is no vaccine available for this viral disease, a number of preventive measures including boosting immunity through nutrition have been gaining attention. As Government of India has recently increased the allocation of Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme to Rs 8,100 crore from Rs 7,300 crore to ensure the supply of food and nutrition to the beneficiaries amidst COVID-19 lockdown, a nutritional analysis of MDM offered in a rural school of West Tripura district, Tripura, India was performed to reveal that the diet lacks a number of micronutrients generally considered important for immunological function. The findings may help the competent authority for better decision making for usage of the enhanced budgetary allocation for MDM program under COVID-19 pandemic.

Ensuring Food Security By Promoting Sustainable Agriculture: An Analysis

The staggering number of undernourished people in the world hovering around 820 million is an alarming situation for the global leaders. This concern has find the place in the Sustainable development goals that United Nations has targeted to achieve by 2030. The Second Sustainable development goal mentions about ending hunger and achieving sustainability in the agricultural practices. Sustainability in agriculture seeks to intertwine the objectives of equity, profitability and ensuring healthy environment. Sustainable agriculture envisages farmers to promote practices which ensures healthy soil, reduction in pollution level at the farms, minimization of water use. Food security can be ensured by adopting sustainable farming practices. The visions of the world leaders while drafting the Sustainable development goals is not only to reduce hunger but also to ensure nutritious food for all. India is also striving to attain the Sustainable development goals by adopting precise policies and better implementation. The Government of India has come up with the scheme of Soil Health Cards in order to promote sustainable agriculture which assists the farmers in gauging the optimum amount of fertilizers to be used. India is providing basic cereals to its poor under the Public Distribution System. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme of the Indian government has also been recognized as a potential tool to meet the urgent needs to tackle the issue of Nourishment among the School going Children. The world should realize that farmer being the main stakeholder in the whole process should be strengthened by providing better access to good practices and easy finance.

The Impact of Singing Engagement on Food Intake of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias: A Multi-site, Repeated Measures Study

Malnutrition among older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is a serious and long-recognized health concern. Identifying nonpharmacological means for enhancing the volume of nutrition intake is an urgent need. Researchers have explored the use of music and music therapy as nonpharmacological avenues in this regard, but most music-based studies related to food intake focus on receptive interventions wherein participants are exposed to recorded music during meal times. The purpose of the present research is to investigate whether residents with ADRD would significantly increase their volume of food intake during the midday meal immediately following 30 minutes of active singing engagement facilitated by a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC). Results indicated no significant change in food intake for participants with ADRD in three long-term care facilities. However, the unintended finding at two facilities wherein participants’ food intake was greater during baseline weeks versus treatment weeks led to speculation about the impact of serotonin which researchers report is released during enjoyable music engagement episodes, but that has also long been recognized as an appetite suppressant. With this newly interpreted finding, recommendation is offered for monitoring when music therapy is provided for individuals with ADRD and nutritional complications relative to their meal times toward minimizing potential adverse effects.

Locally implemented prevention programs may reverse weight trajectories in half of children with overweight/obesity amid low child-staff ratios: results from a quasi-experimental study in France

BackgroundThe aims of the present study were to assess changes in weight status between the first and last year of primary education among children with overweight/obesity in response to locally implemented school-based prevention programs, and to assess the influence of process indicators, expressed as child-staff ratios (CSRs), on these changes.MethodsTo meet the study objectives, a quasi-experimental design was used. Four municipalities that systematically monitored the weight status of schoolchildren and participated in the “Vivons en Forme” program agreed to provide the data available in their school medical service records. The local implementers involved in training sessions were mainly municipal staff in charge of serving midday school meals, which is compulsory in France, and those in charge of designing and facilitating creative, interactive activities at school between and after classes. CSRs were determined by occupation (school catering service/facilitator of extracurricular activities) and training session (healthy eating/physical activity) in each municipality program, and classified as low (1–5 children per adult) or moderate.ResultsDuring the 4 years of primary education, weight status improved in half of the children with overweight/obesity, and worsened in 6.6% of children with overweight/normal weight. In children who remained overweight, the BMI z-score diminished over time. Estimates of the positive 4-year weight changes were related to low CSRs in locally implemented variations of the program. Estimates increased with age and were significantly higher in low-to-moderate CSR multicomponent interventions than moderate CSR single-component intervention (reference). The moderate CSR multicomponent intervention had a similar effect as the reference. The estimated negative weight change decreased with age.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that training ancillary school staff in experiential-focused interventions for healthy eating and physical activity in locally implemented school-based programs contributed positively to reducing childhood obesity during the four years of primary education without interfering with educational activities. The results also provide preliminary evidence that low CSRs could be pivotal for optimal outcomes, especially in deprived areas.

The School Meals Service in Wales, c.1906–1944

This article explores a relatively neglected theme, namely the development of the school meals service in Wales in the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on archival research, the article highlights the complexities of implementing policy. It is organized in two sections. The first outlines the main developments between the permissive Education (Provision of Meals) Act of 1906 and the Education Act of 1944, which compelled local authorities to provide a midday meal and set nutritional guidelines for schools. The second section discusses factors that affected the school meals service in Wales: parental responsibility, eligibility, cost, stigma and the quality of food, which collectively hindered progress. The article concludes that despite growing interventionist policies between 1906 and 1944, local authorities in Wales struggled to reach a consensus over how best to implement legislation, and progress remained uneven.

Proportion and clinical profile of type 1 diabetes patients with a clinical time‐action of insulin glargine U100 shorter than 24 hours

AbstractWe aimed to estimate the proportion of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients for whom insulin glargine 100U/ml (Gla‐100) does not clinically cover a period of 24 hours and compare them with T1DM patients treated with a single dose of insulin Gla‐100.We undertook a cross‐sectional observational study of people with T1DM. The study participants were divided into two groups according to the perceived clinical duration of the action of insulin Gla‐100. Group 1 (duration 24 hours) comprised participants treated with a single dose of insulin Gla‐100; Group 2 (duration <24 hours) comprised participants treated with two doses of insulin Gla‐100 or one dose plus premixed insulin with the midday meal. Data were collected on anthropometric measures, treatment and metabolic control.In total, 252 people with T1DM were analysed: 157 from Group 1 and 95 from Group 2. In 37.7% of the participants (95% CI 31.7–43.7%) the clinical duration of Gla‐100 was less than 24 hours. The people in Group 2 were older, had longer duration of diabetes and higher BMI. They also required higher doses of insulin and were less insulin sensitive. The independent variables related to the shorter clinical action of insulin Gla‐100 were a higher dose of insulin and a longer duration of diabetes.It was concluded a high percentage of patients with T1DM present an effective clinical action of Gla‐100 of <24 hours, related to longer duration of diabetes and a need for higher insulin dose. Copyright © 2020 John Wiley & Sons.

Ensuring availability of food for child nutrition amidst the COVID – 19 pandemic: Challenges and Way forward

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spread in India is steeply rising. A 21-day lockdown has been imposed by the Government of India, to curtail its spread. This has impacted all walks of life, including the availability of food, and nutrition related services. This will impact nutritional status of children throughout India. The two major schemes, i.e. the Integrated Child Development Scheme and the Mid-day meal services scheme have also been affected leading to a risk of worsening of child nutrition. Some states have evolved their own strategies to mitigate the effect of lockdown during this crisis period. Here we discuss the challenges and way forward related to ensuring availability of food for child nutrition during this health crisis. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME: A STUDY ON GOVERNMENT PRIMARY SCHOOL OF TINSUKIA

Purpose of the study: The research aims to study the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government primary schools of the Tinsukia district of Assam.
 Methodology: For the purpose study descriptive methodology is used. Data are randomly collected through a self-structured questionnaire. Tables and figures are used to analyze the collected raw data.
 Main Findings: Results showed that Mid-Day Meal Scheme is playing an important role in reducing classroom hunger of students. But the functioning of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in many surveyed schools is not by the guidelines of the scheme provided by the government particularly in respect of the timely supply of grains, storage facility of grains and plates for distribution of meal to the children.
 Applications of this study: This research can be used by policymakers, teachers, parents and also social welfare activities.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: For the first time, implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme has been studied in the Tinsukia district of Assam.

Women’s Political Representation and Educational Attainments: A District-level Analysis in India

This paper has three major objectives: (1) to analyse whether the gender of politicians in India is relevant to the educational achievements of the residents of the districts in which they were elected; (2) to test whether politicians are more sensitive to the needs of the people of same gender and (3) to explore the potential channels through which the above relationships operate. By applying econometric techniques to a dataset obtained by merging individual with district-level political data, we concluded that an increase by 10 percentage points in women’s political representation produces an increase by 6 percentage points in the probability of children completing primary school. We then found gender-differentiated results: women’s political representation affects significantly more girls’ than boys’ education. This relationship works partly through the improvement of women’s access to educational programmes like the Mid-Day Meal scheme, while an increase in school infrastructures does not appear to be an important mediating factor. While an in-depth understanding of the pathways through which women’s representation in politics impacts on children’s education is hindered by data constraints, our findings seem to point to the importance of the ‘role model’ effect.