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Contribution of School Meals to Nutrient Intakes of School‐age children enrolled in two feeding programs in Ghana
Author(s) -
Owusu Justina Serwaah,
Colecraft Esi,
Aryeetey Richmond,
Vaccaro Joan A.,
Huffman Fatma
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.669.3
Subject(s) - malnutrition , micronutrient , meal , environmental health , medicine , nutrient , school meal , pediatrics , demography , gerontology , biology , sociology , ecology , pathology
School‐age children are vulnerable to malnutrition which can negatively influence their growth and maturity, health and academic attainment. School feeding programs offer an opportunity to reduce hunger and malnutrition among school age children. However, there is limited information on how school meals contribute to dietary intakes of school children in Ghana. We compared the contribution of meals provided by ‘Ghana School Feeding Programme’ (GSFP) and a ‘Non‐governmental School Feeding Programme’ (NSFP) to total energy and nutrient intake of school‐age children. Two non‐consecutive 24‐hour dietary recalls were completed with 180 school age children. Additionally, the weighed food method was used to obtain weights of 7 dished portions of school meals served daily over a one‐week period at both feeding sites. Program differences were assessed using independent t ‐test. The school‐age children in the ‘Ghana School Feeding Programme’ received significantly smaller portions of the school meal than those in the ‘Non‐Governmental School Feeding Programme’ (243 ± 50g vs. 416 ± 96g; p =0.007). Whereas the ‘Ghana School Feeding Programme’ meals consumed by school‐age children contributed from 12% up to 18.1% of the total energy and nutrient intakes of the children, the ‘Non‐governmental School Feeding Programme’ meals contributed from 17% up to 30% of the total energy and nutrient intakes of the children. The ‘Non‐governmental School Feeding Programme’ contributed significantly more energy (28 ± 10% vs. 16.2 ± 7%; p =<0.001), protein (24.6 ± 9% vs. 13.3 ± 7%; p =<0.001) and micronutrients ( p ≤0.042) to the children's total intakes compared to meals provided through the ‘Ghana School Feeding Programme’. The smaller portion sizes provided by the GSFP contributed to the meals supplying less energy and nutrients to children's daily intakes. The quality of meals served by both programs needs to be reviewed to ensure that they supply the recommended 30% of energy and nutrients to school children's daily requirements. Support or Funding Information The project was funded in part by Prembaf Ghana, an affiliate of Prem Rawat Foundation.