BENGALURU: What is good for kids: Serving them food at school or allowing them to take ration home?
This is the question that policymakers grapple with while making budgetary allocations for programmes aimed at improving the health and nutritional status of schoolgoing children. But a study undertaken by the state education department makes an interesting revelation: Kids prefer to eat hot meals at school in the afternoon, instead of taking home raw supplies.
The 100-day study to assess the impact of providing supplementary nutrition under midday meals scheme was undertaken in Yadgir and Gadag districts. The research stated children preferred to have hot rice and sambar, including egg or banana, at school over exercising the option of taking ration home. This was because packed ration would have to be shared with the entire family, resulting in students getting less compared to the portion served at school. Another reason cited was skipping the afternoon meal at home due to the traditional practice of eating twice a day.
One may recall that due to the pandemic and consequent closure of schools, the education department had resorted to giving take-home ration kits to children as midday meals. The study clearly shows that was not favoured. Findings of the research were key to making the midday meal programme more robust.
The study further pointed out that children didn’t enjoy green leafy vegetables, if not added to dal. This, in turn, could be a game changer in terms of ensuring a balanced diet among kids, who would otherwise miss their greens, it noted.
While tracking the consumption of these supplements, the study highlighted some gaps at the administrative level too. For instance, the headmasters or headcooks revealed that with no advance coming from the public instruction department, they were having to spend money from their own pockets to buy eggs and bananas (which was reimbursed later). This, they said, was becoming increasingly difficult for them to manage.
Meanwhile, headteachers said even among the egg-consuming students, there are restrictions on certain weekdays due to festivals, auspicious days and this poses a challenge in keeping a daily record of consumption.
