School Lunch Programme Research Articles

Contribution of school lunch programme to intake of micronutrients among preschool children in semi arid areas of Kilifi County, Kenya

Contribution of school lunch programme to intake of micronutrients among preschool children in semi arid areas of Kilifi County, Kenya

Underpaid, undervalued, and overworked: The working conditions of cooks in India's school lunch programme

AbstractMotivationSchool feeding programmes employ more than 4 million people globally and have the potential to contribute to the realization of multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including decent work and reducing inequalities. However, the working conditions and experiences of workers in these programmes have received little attention from academics and policy‐makers alike. Consequently, it is currently unclear what the impacts of the employment generated are and whether this employment reduces or perpetuates inequalities.PurposeThis article examines the extent to which school feeding programmes can generate beneficial employment by examining the experiences of cooks in the world's largest school lunch programme, India's Midday Meal Scheme. The article focuses on five key areas: who is employed; their pay; their workload; their access to social protection; and the effects of privatization.Approach and methodsTo examine these five areas, data from three sources are combined: primary data collected in Rajasthan; state‐level secondary data; and the analysis of national‐level documents.FindingsThe findings show that national policy creates a system in which cooks in the Midday Meal Scheme are underpaid, undervalued, and overworked. These working conditions are underpinned by a series of assumptions and narratives which are all too common in perceptions of care work: that the work is unskilled, not time consuming, and motivated by altruism. The state's lack of regard for these workers is evident in the growing privatization of the scheme.Policy implicationsOverall, the findings show that policy on school feeding programmes, including those in India, needs to ensure that those working in the scheme are treated as employees and receive sufficient pay and benefits. Providing decent work in these programmes has the potential to not only reduce poverty and inequalities but also to improve the implementation of school feeding programmes.

School Lunch Programme in Taiwan: History, Promotion Systems and Challenges in Compressed Food Modernity

School Lunch Programme in Taiwan: History, Promotion Systems and Challenges in Compressed Food Modernity

Not Just a Free Lunch a logic model and evidence review for the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunch programme

Ka Ora, Ka Ako provides free, healthy lunches for 220,000 learners in low-equity New Zealand schools. Costing over $260 million annually, it represents the largest government investment in child nutrition in generations. Early evaluations indicate success in achieving programme aims of delivering nutritious food, improving learners’ wellbeing, and easing financial stress for families. However, international evidence and emerging local data indicate the programme can achieve the above and more. This article presents a programme logic model drawing on local data and a review of relevant international literature on universal school food provision with the aim of identifying potential long-term outcomes and impacts at multiple levels: for learners, wh`ānau, schools, communities, and food systems. Findings indicate that the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme has the potential to:• improve children’s nutrition and educational outcomes, as well as improve child and wh`ānau food security;• enrich school learning environments; • boost local economies (through creation of jobs paying a living wage) and enhance local foodscapes (including availability and affordability of healthy foods) through food system engagement in schools, with whänau and communities; and• increase food system resilience (e.g., shorter supply chains and relationship building), and encourage broader food system transformation (e.g., reformulation, waste and packaging solutions) with leverage from new procurement models.While Ka Ora, Ka Ako can contribute to these pathways, some implementation areas within the programme demand further attention to achieve optimal results. Recognised areas for improvement include ensuring high quality of food, providing more avenues for engagement from children and parents, addressing perceived challenges to integrate Ka Ora, Ka Ako effectively with mātauranga Māori, and improving waste management. Given the high potential for Ka Ora, Ka Ako to contribute to multiple beneficial outcomes, continued investment and expansion of the programme is warranted.

School Feeding to Improve Cognitive Performance in Disadvantaged Children: A 3-Arm Parallel Controlled Trial in Northwest Pakistan.

Malnutrition is associated with reduced learning aptitude and growth during childhood. We examined the impact of providing two school lunch variants, a standard school meal (school feeding, n = 70), or the standard meal with additional micronutrients (school feeding + micronutrient powder (MNP), n = 70), in children attending two schools in northwest Pakistan. A third local government school, where no lunch was provided (no school feeding, n = 70), served as the control. The primary outcome, cognitive function, was assessed using the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test, alongside haemoglobin, at three-time points: T1 (baseline, before the initiation of the school lunch programme), T2 and T3 (5 and 12 months, respectively, after the introduction of the school lunch). Data were analysed using linear mixed-effects models to contrast between trial groups, the changes from T1 to T2 and T3. Adjusted for T1 and other co-variates, improvements in the RCPM scores were significantly greater in the school feeding group at T2 (b = 1.61, (95% CI = 0.71-2.52), t = 3.52, p = 0.001) and T3 (b = 1.28, (95% CI = 0.22-2.35), t = 2.38, p = 0.019) compared with no school feeding. In addition, at T2 (b = 1.63, (95% CI = -0.10-3.37), t = 1.86, p = 0.065), there were no significant differences between school feeding + MNP and no school feeding groups. However, improvements in the RCPM scores were significantly greater in the school feeding + MNP group at T3 (b = 2.35, (95% CI = 0.51-4.20), t = 2.53, p = 0.013) compared with no school feeding. The findings indicate an improvement in cognitive performance in children who received a school meal with and without MNP, over a 12-month period. Currently there is no operational school feeding programme at the national or provincial level in Pakistan. Our findings, therefore, highlight the need for school feeding programmes to improve learning opportunities for children from underprivileged communities.

Captive school markets, industry self-regulation, and public-private partnerships: Narratives shaping the development of alternative proteins in the United States, 1965–1982

This paper examines the interplay between government, industry and other stakeholders, and the key narratives shaping the development and regulation of alternative protein products in the US in the 1960s to early 1980s, paying particular attention to how the US National School Lunch Programme was used for the development of these products. Using internal food industry documents sourced from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Food Industry Documents Archive, we find that the US government proactively paved the way for industry to develop alternative protein products by: (a) providing government funding for textured vegetable protein product research and development; (b) opening the doors to lucrative markets; and (c) supporting a lenient regulatory environment for alternative protein products to be developed. A key market for textured vegetable protein products was the US National School Lunch Programme, which was treated as a captive market for developing new products and formulations. The motivations for introducing textured vegetable proteins in schools differed between government and industry, principally between: offering cost-savings and alleviating malnutrition and food insecurity versus developing profitable new food products. Industry actors actively sought to modify the regulatory environment to favour commercial interests, and the government was slow to regulate the alternative protein industry and relied on industry self-regulation. Our research is particularly relevant, because of what appears to be renewed interest in recent years in using school meal programs for the development of alternative-proteins, a phenomenon not limited to the US.

Preparing on-site school lunches improves adolescents’ eating habits: A one-year follow-up

Objective: We investigated how students’ interest in healthy eating changed after the introduction of on-site school lunch, prepared on campus, at a Japanese junior high school. Design: One-year follow-up study. Setting: Participants were 166 students in their second year of study at a public junior high school in Japan which introduced an on-site school lunch programme instead of students bringing lunch from home. Method: Students’ interest in healthy eating habits was evaluated using the Japanese Questionnaire of Consciousness in Dietary Life for Adolescents Form (JQCDL–AF). Results: Data from 139 students who completed all three surveys were analysed. Total scores after 1 month increased significantly compared to baseline. This increase was sustained among boys 1 year later. The introduction of on-site school lunches is an effective strategy not only for providing healthy meals but also for increasing interest in the development of healthy eating habits. Conclusion: Increasing opportunities to get involved in meal preparation through the introduction of on-site school lunches may be an effective means of facilitating healthy eating among students.

Systems Mapping of the New Zealand Free and Healthy School Lunch Programme: Perspectives from Lunch Providers.

As part of the COVID-19 economic recovery package, the Aotearoa New Zealand Government rolled out a universal free and healthy lunch programme to the 25% least advantaged schools nationwide. This study explored experiences of school lunch providers in the Hawke’s Bay region. The aim was to create a systems map identifying points of intervention through which the lunch programme could be improved to meet the goal of reducing child food insecurity. Twelve lunch providers were interviewed to generate casual loop diagrams which were examined and integrated to form a single systems map. Seven themes arose during analysis: teacher support, principal support, nutrition guidelines and government support, supply chain, ingredient suppliers, student feedback and food waste. Teacher support was important for getting students to try new foods and eat the nutritious lunches. Principal support was a strong theme impacting opportunities for broader student engagement. This study employed systems science to highlight the importance of support from different stakeholders within the lunch programme to achieve the goal of reduced child food insecurity. Further work is needed to ensure the programme meets the wider goals of the government and community, and to determine the potential broader benefits of the programme.

Nourishing Hawke’s Bay: He wairua tō te kai – food security, health behaviours and wellbeing in children in regional New Zealand

ABSTRACT Our current food system is failing to deliver on equitable health outcomes, wellbeing and food security and the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand has high inequities and one the highest levels of childhood obesity nationally. This articlereports baseline quantitative data from 2087 students (aged 9 or 13) from 41 primary and secondary schools, including schools participating in the Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunch programme. Students answered an online survey covering food security, general wellbeing (WHO-5), eating behaviours and physical activity and were measured/weighed for body size. 16.8% of students experienced food insufficiency in the home and 31.3% of 13-yr-olds did not eat breakfast. Overall, only 12.9% met the national vegetable intake guidelines and 39.6% met fruit intake guidelines. Students in high advantage schools (decile 8–10) were twice as likely to meet the vegetable intake guidelines. 47.1% of 13-year old girls were at risk of reduced wellbeing. 54.6% of students had a healthy weight and 44.5% experienced overweight or obesity; in low advantage (decile 1–3) schools 64.4% experienced overweight or obesity. The data form a baseline for an evaluation of multiple public health initiatives underway in Hawke’s Bay to improve food environments and nutritional wellbeing.

Nutritional quality of lunch meals and plate waste in school lunch programme in Southern Thailand.

Food waste globally affects food security and sustainability. There currently are few studies focusing on food waste in schools. The present study aimed to determine the meal quality and plate waste in school lunch programme in Thailand. This cross-sectional study was conducted in canteens of representing kindergarten and elementary schools in Southern Thailand within their real-life context. The assessment was carried out over five consecutive school days in July–August 2020 for each school, at which two types of menus, including rice with side dish and one-dish meal were served. Waste collection and quantification were conducted by selective aggregate weighing, according to the Food Loss and Waste Protocol. All lunch menus contained excess rice but insufficient meats, fruits, vegetables and eggs, regarding the national lunch standard. For each serving portion, 7–33 % rice, 9–22 % meats, 7–65 % vegetables, 1–19 % fruits and 3–14 % eggs were discarded. Plate waste from rice with side dish menus (10–29 %) was more than one-dish meals (7–17 %). By estimation, each kindergartener generated 71⋅4 g plate waste daily, accounting for the caloric and monetary values of 146 kcal and 0⋅16 US dollar. The amount of plate waste and the respective caloric and monetary losses were less obvious at the elementary school. Plate waste affected the adequacy of food intakes of schoolchildren from lunch meals. The data obtained from the present study will be useful for planning and implementation of school lunch programme in Thailand and countries with similar context.

Assessment of awareness regarding school lunch programme among parents at Bagadpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: School lunch programme provided by government of India at free of cost, its components use in the clinical settings are well defined, the present study aims at assessing the parent’s awareness regarding school lunch programme (SLP). Objectives 1. To assess the awareness of parents regarding school lunch programme. 2. To assess the awareness of parents regarding school lunch programme. Method: A study was used to assess the awareness of parents regarding SLP at Bagadpur, Uttar Pradesh. Data was collected from 80 samples using convenient sampling technique by structured questionnaire. The collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presents in the form of tables and figures. Result: 1.25% parents have adequate level of awareness, 73.75% have moderate level of awareness and 25.00% have inadequate level of awareness. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant association between sociodemographic variables of the respondents with their level of awareness.

Household food insecurity and educational outcomes in school-going adolescents in Ghana.

We examined the association of household food insecurity with educational outcomes and explored the moderating effect of gender and school lunch programme. The study used a cross-sectional design. Data were collected in 2014 using interviewer-administered questionnaires and school administrative records. We measured household food insecurity using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Educational outcomes referred to knowledge, attitudes and skills that students are expected to obtain while attending school. We obtained sixteen different measures of educational outcomes, ranging from academic grades to beliefs and attitudes towards school and education. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling with covariates at the student and school levels. We conducted moderation tests by adding a two-way interaction between food insecurity and gender, and between food insecurity and school lunch programme. The study was conducted in 100 schools located in fifty-four districts within Ghana's eight administrative regions in 2014. Participants included 2201 school-going adolescents aged 15-19 years. More than 60 % of adolescents were from food-insecure households. Household food insecurity was negatively associated with Math grade and school attendance. Food insecurity was also inversely associated with socio-emotional outcomes, including academic self-efficacy, commitment to school and academic aspirations and expectations. We did not find a moderating effect of gender and school lunch programme. Food insecurity is negatively associated with wide-ranging educational outcomes related to both learning and socio-emotional abilities. Our study supports prior evidence suggesting the importance of food access on both cognitive and non-cognitive educational outcomes.

School closure, COVID-19 and lunch programme: Unprecedented undernutrition crisis in low-middle income countries.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected nearly 70% of children and teenagers around the world due to school closure policies. School closure is implemented widely in order to prevent viral transmission and its impact on the broader community, based on preliminary recommendations and evidence from influenza. However, there is debate with regard to the effectiveness of school closures. Growing evidence suggests that a child's SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is often mild or asymptomatic and that children may not be major SARS‐CoV‐2 transmitters; thus, it is questionable if school closures prevent transmission significantly. This question is important as a majority of children in low‐ and middle‐income countries depend on free school meals; unexpected long‐term school closure may adversely impact nutrition and educational outcomes. Food insecurity is expected to be higher during the pandemic. In this viewpoint, we argue for a more thorough exploration of potential adverse impacts of school closures in low‐ and middle‐income countries and recommend actions to ensure that the health and learning needs of vulnerable populations are met in this time of crisis.

Managing Colonial Diets: Wartime Nutritional Science on the Korean Population, 1937–1945

Summary This article examines nutrition studies on Korean diets between 1937 and 1945 as a case study on the liaison between nutritional science and total war regimes in the twentieth century. Building on critical scholarship on nutritional science, this article argues that nutritional science—as a scientific governmental technology and racial discourse—served the wartime colonial regime in the Japanese empire aimed at managing the Korean population in the most scientific manner. As a governmental technology, nutritional science produced scientific frameworks and data that shaped state food policies for the efficient mobilisation of Korean diet and labor for war. As a racial discourse, nutritional science construed Korean diets as a scientifically defined nutrition problem. By construing the nutrition problem as an expression of colonial backwardness in need of governmental intervention, nutritional science justified wartime state policies like the school lunch programme as welfare measures to improve the colonial diet and body.

Influence of Households’ Socio-Economic and Demographic Characteristics on Morbidity and Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Ganze- Kilifi County, Kenya

ABSTRACT: Globally, socio economic and demographic status of households have been shown to influence the health of school children. However, knowledge of the impact of these factors on children’s health is scarce in Kilifi County. This study evaluated the influence of households’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics on Preschool children’s morbidity and nutritional status in Ganze Kilifi County, Kenya. A total of 288 pre-school children (3-5 years) and their households were selected from ten Government schools five which had a school lunch programme (study group) and five without the programme (Control group) but in the same locality. Households’ socioeconomic and demographic data was collected by trained research assistants using pretested questionnaires. WHO Anthro programme was used to evaluate children’s nutritional status and SPSS version 24, and SAS version 9.4 statistical software for Data analysis. The threshold for statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Household heads with no formal education were 30% and the average income of the households was KES. 3000-5000 per month. Households’ average daily allocation to food was Kes.100-150. Children enrollment in preschool was 65% for boys and girls 35%. Children who were sick two weeks, prior to the interview were 2 times more likely to be stunted [OR=2.20; 95%CI=1.25 - 3.85; P=0.006] and 2.5 times more likely to be underweight [OR=2.66; 95%CI=1.48 - 4.77; P=0.001] compared to children without sickness. This study found that socio economic and demographic factors influenced morbidity and nutritional status of the preschool children. The study showed that the long distance to health services, low education level and income contributed to increased ill health and morbidity resulting into stunted and underweight children. The study recommends that the relevant authorities should improve access to clean water and sanitation in addition to community health outreach services targeting the children. Also, the community should be supported and encouraged to engage in income generating activities for economic empowerment.

Universal school lunch programme closes a socioeconomic gap in fruit and vegetable intakes among school children in Japan

BackgroundUniversal school lunch programmes are expected to cover all children equally, compared with selective programmes that may stigmatize socially vulnerable children. However, the effectiveness of universal programmes in closing dietary disparity has not been empirically proven. We evaluated whether Japan’s universal school lunch programmes contribute to a reduction in the socioeconomic status (SES)-related gradient in fruit and vegetable intakes.MethodsWe analyzed data for 719 school children aged 6–12 years in a population-based survey conducted in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. We measured dietary intakes using a validated self-administered brief diet history questionnaire for young children (BDHQ-10 y). We assessed parental education, annual household income and maternal employment status as SES indicators of children. We used multiple regression to estimate mean fruit and vegetable intakes by parental education and household income, and the contribution of school lunch to reducing the SES-related gradient in fruit and vegetable intakes.ResultsCompared with children with high maternal education (>15 years), those with low maternal education (<13 years) had less vegetable intake by 22.3 g/1000 kcal (95% confidence interval = 12.5, 32.2) and less fruit intake by 7.5 g/1000 kcal (95% confidence interval = −2.4, 17.3). However, fruit and vegetable intakes from school lunch did not vary by SES, indicating that school lunch intake alleviated the SES-related gradient of total vegetable intake by 9.9% and that of fruit intake by 3.4%.ConclusionsUniversal school lunch programmes can partially contribute to a reduction in the SES-related gradient in dietary intakes.

Nutritional value of school meals and their contributions to energy and nutrient intakes of rural school children in Enugu and Anambra States, Nigeria

BackgroundNutritional deficiencies among school children may hinge on inadequate nutrient intake. School meals should improve nutrient intakes by providing a third of recommended daily energy and nutrient intakes (RNI). The study aimed at evaluating school meals served in three rural schools to determine if they met one third of the RNI of the children. This will enhance meal planning.MethodsFood samples (20 g) that constituted the school meals were collected for five consecutive days from three schools where school lunch programme was implemented. These were put in labelled small air tight plastic containers and stored in deep freezers in the Department of Home Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The samples were analysed chemically using standard methods. Portion sizes of foods were obtained and the contributions made by these meals to the children’s RNI were calculated. Results were presented in percentages and means ± standard deviations.ResultsThe results showed that energy value of the meals ranged from 32.27 – 243.4 Kcal/100 g. The school meals contained carbohydrate (0.7 – 48.4 g), protein (0.69 – 12.6 g), vitamin C (0.7 – 8.22 mg), vitamin A (3.0 – 255.5 RE), iron (0.05 – 1.7 mg), calcium (3.0 –120 mg) and zinc (0.14 – 3.0 mg) per 100 g of food consumed. They contributed 16.4 – 25.5% energy, 53.4 – 116.9% protein, 66.0 – 159.5% vitamin A, 37.3 – 45.7% vitamin C, 13.2 – 28.5% calcium, 5.9 – 20.6% iron and 35.1 – 92.9% zinc to the children’s daily requirements.ConclusionThe school meals provided over one third of the RNI for protein, vitamins A and C, and zinc but did not meet a third of the RNI for energy, calcium and iron.

Nutritional guidelines and school lunches: Federal efforts to shape the American diet

Abstract Starting in the mid-twentieth century, the US federal government played an increasingly important role in shaping food production and consumption. This paper examines how politics shapes what modern Americans ate, especially as reflected in the evolution of nutritional guidelines and the National School Lunch Program. Both initiatives assumed that the federal government had a prescriptive role in good nutrition and were based on the confidence that - with modern scientific knowledge and an industrialised food system - good nutrition and ready access to food happened by design. In addition, both nutritional guidelines and the school lunch programme viewed food as a collection of nutrients, stripped of cultural or environmental importance. The school lunch programme also had an economic goal: trying to dispose of surplus agricultural commodities created by industrial agriculture. Thus, while the school lunch programme was intended to solve an economic problem, it might have had a role in perpetuating the problem.

Family Impact Analysis of Mid-day Meal (MDM) Scheme in India with Special Focus on Child Education and Nutrition

The school lunch programme in India was first implemented in 1925 by the Madras Municipal Corporation for disadvantaged children. At present, the school lunch programme in India is known as mid-day meal (MDM) scheme. It was started with an objective to enhance enrolment, retention and attendance rates, and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among children. MDM not only impacts the well-being of each child but also affects the overall prosperity of families. Hence, a family impact analysis of the MDM scheme of India would be instrumental in charting out the future directions of this programme. For this study, no primary research has been carried out, rather this paper is based on secondary literature pertaining to MDM with relation to child nutrition and education. The checklist developed by the Family Criteria (Ad Hoc) Task Force of the Consortium of Family Organizations (COFO) for assessing the intended and unintended impact of public policies, proposals and social programmes on families is used. This checklist, which was later revised by the Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars, outlines six principles to guide analyses of the family supportiveness of policies and programmes: (1) family support and responsibilities, (2) family membership and stability, (3) family involvement and interdependence, (4) family partnership and empowerment, (5) family diversity and (6) support of vulnerable families. There are a good number of intended consequences of MDM scheme which include enrolment, retention, attendance, eradication of school hunger, family stability, improvement of malnutrition, employment to women of disadvantaged communities, improvement of girl child education, etc. However, it also has some unintended consequences, including food contamination or food poisoning. Social discrimination can also be seen as an intended or unintended consequence of MDM.

A scheme of mid day meal scheme and its impact on health of primary classes (6-11 yrs) in Meerut region

The concept of mid day meal scheme has a long history in India. In 1925 a mid day meal scheme was introduced for children belonging to poor socio-economic status in Madras Municipal Corporation area. In 1928 Keshav Academy of Calcutta (Kolkata) introduced compulsory mid day tiffin for school boys on payment basis at the rate of four annas per child per month. In 1941, in parts of Kerala, the school lunch programme was started. In 1942 Mumbai started implementing a free mid day meal scheme. A mid day meal scheme was introduce in Banglore city in 1946 to provide cooked rice and yoghurt. In 1953, Uttar Pradesh government introduce a scheme on voluntary basis to provide meals consisting of boiled or roasted or sprouted grams, ground nut, puffed rice, boiled potatoes or seasonal fruits. In the 1950’s many states came to introduce mid day meal scheme with the assistance of different international agencies like UNICEF, FAO and WHO. International voluntary/charity organizations like Catholic Relief services CWS, CARE, USA’s Meal Millions etc. During 1958-59 an expanded nutritions programme (ENP) jointly by FAO, WHO, UNICEF and government of RESEARCH NOTE ADVANCE RESEARCH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE