Keep up the School Nutrition agenda

Jun 24, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

I am happy to read about the ongoing and expanding Government’s Breakfast Programme in our land. I received a news snippet that “Over 13,000 pupils (are) benefitting daily from Govt.’s Breakfast Programme,” and I was quite pleased. Where the country is concerned, this is not new in any way at all, as school feeding programmes are universal and have always proved beneficial for the physical, mental, and psychosocial development of school-age children and adolescents, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

My email explained that “More than 13,000 Grade Six pupils are benefitting from the programme, which provides them with a nutritious meal every day, to improve their attentiveness in class.” And yes, nutrition and education go together.

Advocates of child health have been experimenting with students’ diets in the United States for more than twenty years, and it is well established that improved nutrition has the potential to positively influence students’ academic performance and behaviour. According to the plethora of existing data, better nutrition allows for students to be better able to learn, have fewer absences, and improves students’ behaviour, causing fewer disruptions in the classroom.

In terms of actual cognition, nutritional status directly affects mental capacity among school-aged children. For example, iron deficiency, even in early stages, can decrease dopamine transmission, thus negatively impacting cognition. Deficiencies in other vitamins and minerals, specifically thiamine, vitamin E, vitamin B, iodine, and zinc, are shown to inhibit cognitive abilities and mental concentration. Additionally, amino acid and carbohydrate supplementation can improve perception, intuition, and reasoning. There are also a number of studies showing that improvements in nutrient intake can influence the cognitive ability and intelligence levels of school-aged children. So, this programme is indeed a worthy one.

On the local scene, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, noted that the programme also provides regular income for persons within communities capable of distributing healthy foods. She revealed that “We hired individuals from the community and gave them a menu prepared by the Carnegie School of Home Economics. It is measured in terms of food value. And we pay them to provide the food as well as for their labour.” So on one hand, it is about nutrition and education, while at the same time, employment is enhanced.

In terms of the national and long-term plan, things are seemingly on the right path. A quick look back will show that the year’s budget allocated a total of $2.1 billion to expand the programme to benefit over 85,000 pupils across the country. And this is not all, there is also the ministry’s Hot Meal Programme, which serves meals to primary and primary top students in Regions One, Two, Three, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.

Editor, poor health is the antithesis of education. Every day, millions of children around the world go to school on an empty stomach, and hunger affects their concentration and ability to learn. There are also millions of children, particularly girls, who simply do not go to school because their families need them to help in the fields or perform domestic duties. In conflict-affected countries, children are twice as likely to be out of school than their peers in stable countries-2.5 times more likely in the case of girls.

I think readers get the gist of my comment. It is that our government is really on a good drive here. School meal programmes can truly help address many of these challenges.

They are a multi-sectoral game changer that improve children’s education, health and nutrition. More broadly, they support the whole community by providing an important safety net, and by strengthening food systems and economies.

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Keep up the School Nutrition agenda

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