Nutritional Assessment of School Meals and Food Consumption Patterns of Pupils under the School Feeding Programme in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated school feeding programme as a means of providing nutritious meals each day to pupils to attract them to school to enhance learning. To a hungry child, going to school is not as important as having enough food to eat. A well fed child is likely to concentrate more in the class than his/her counterpart on an empty stomach. The objectives of the study were to evaluate nutrient composition and food consumption pattern of pupils under the school feeding programme in Kano state, Nigeria. Cross-sectional study was conducted among school-children in Kano State Nigeria. Data on food consumption pattern of pupils at household level and parents’ occupation were collected using structured questionnaire. The school-meal samples were evaluated for amino acid profile, and proximate composition. The household food consumption patterns of the children indicated that 87% depend on starch-based foods, 50% considered legumes as their main source of protein, 43% had access to foods of animals origin. About 32% of the examined pupils agreed on regular intake of fruits/vegetables, while others occasionally. The occupation of the pupils’ parents (fathers and mothers) showed that 14-30% of the pupils’ parents engaged in vocational jobs, broad range (1-23%) were famers, 14-20% civil servants, 24-41% business owners/traders and lastly 4-11% were unemployed. The school meals had high crude protein content. Arginine and histidine (the essential amino acids required for the growth of school aged children) were adequately represented in the meals. The protein content of the meals was adequate to promote growth of the pupils. High intake of plant protein and low animal protein was observed. Moreover, the quantity of the meals given to the pupils seems inadequate. Hence, there is a need to improve on the quantity and quality of the school-meals. These findings may be relevant to health and educational policy makers in Nigeria.