Assessing the quality of food served under a South African school feeding scheme:  A nutritional analysis

Nhlapo, Nthabiseng; Lues, Ryk; Kativu, Edmore; Groenewald, Willem H.

doi:10.17159/sajs.2015/20140044

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…This findings contradict those of Buluku [7] who found that energy was adequately met in the diets of girls in selected boarding schools in Nairobi, Kenya. However, this finding concurs with that of Nhlapo et al [33] who found that the meals served under a South African school feeding scheme did not meet the energy needs of school children aged 11-18 years. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats provided 57.6%, 11.8%, and 30.5% of energy, respectively.…”

Section: Fulfillment Of the Different Nutrientssupporting

confidence: 90%

Paucity of Nutrition Guidelines and Nutrient Quality of Meals Served to Kenyan Boarding High School Students

et al. 2020

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Adequate nutrition is vital for the optimal growth, development, and general well-being of adolescents. A lack of nutritional guidelines for school meals poses a major challenge in the provision of nutritious meals to students in Kenyan boarding high schools. The aim of the study was to investigate the nutrient quality and portion sizes of meals served to students and the adequacy of the meals in meeting students’ health requirements. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 50 catering or kitchen managers of 50 high schools in Kenya. Data were obtained through researcher-assisted questionnaires. It was established that menus were simplistic in nature, lacked variety, and were repetitive. With regard to nutrients, menus offered to students were excessively highin dietary fiber, containing three or five times more than the recommended daily intake. In most cases, students were underfed on nutrients such as carbohydrates, vitamin A, folic acid, potassium, calcium, proteins, and vitamins B1–12, resulting in low energy provision. It is concluded that a majority ofthe Kenyan high schools studied do not provide nutritionally adequate meals. The government of Kenya should have nutrition guidelines to ensure that schools provide diets with high foodand nutrient quality to students.

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Section: Fulfillment Of the Different Nutrientssupporting

confidence: 90%

Paucity of Nutrition Guidelines and Nutrient Quality of Meals Served to Kenyan Boarding High School Students

et al. 2020

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“…Another South African study, which was undertaken in Bloemfontein in 10 randomly selected quintile 1-3 schools, analyzed samples of the meals eaten and found for the 11-18-year-old age group, the calcium standard (≥350 mg) was not met by any of the meals analyzed, and vitamin A and E levels were undetected [37]. This may have been due to the low intake and lack of variety in vegetables, with the main source of vegetables being cabbage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Food and Nutrition Environment at Secondary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as Reported by Learners

Okeyo

Seekoe

Villiers

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Overweight and obesity are growing concerns in adolescents, particularly in females in South Africa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the food and nutrition environment in terms of government policy programs, nutrition education provided, and foods sold at secondary schools in the Eastern Cape province. Sixteen schools and grade 8–12 learners (N = 1360) were randomly selected from three health districts comprising poor disadvantaged communities. Based on age and sex specific body mass index (BMI) cut-off values, 13.3% of males and 5.5% of females were underweight, while 9.9% of males and 36.1% of females were overweight or obese. The main food items purchased at school were unhealthy energy-dense items such as fried flour dough balls, chocolates, candies, and crisps/chips. Nutrition knowledge scores based on the South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) were poor for 52% to 23.4% learners in Grades 8 to 12, respectively. Female learners generally had significantly higher nutrition knowledge scores compared to their male counterparts (p = 0.016). Questions poorly answered by more than 60% of learners, included the number of fruit and vegetable portions required daily, food to eat when overweight, foods containing fiber, and importance of legumes. It was noted that the majority of teachers who taught nutrition had no formal nutrition training and their responses to knowledge questions were poor indicating that they were not familiar with the FBDGs, which are part of the curriculum. Nutrition assessment as part of the Integrated School Health Program was done on few learners. Overall however, despite some challenges the government national school meal program provided meals daily to 96% of learners. In general, the school food and nutrition environment was not conducive for promoting healthy eating.

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“…Osun [14] found zinc content of school meals in Nigeria to be lower than 30% of children's intake. Even in South Africa that most schools (9 out of 10 involved in the study) supplied a higher energy than what was observed in the Ghana study, micronutrient content of zinc and iron were not much different [13]. The GSFP is doing its best to meet nutritional needs of school children with limited resources; however, there still needs to be improvement in the both macronutrients and micronutrients supplied to children to ensure adequacy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Thus menus differ from one district to the other. In other African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Nigerian Osun State, there are similar menus nationwide or statewide [10,13,14]. Flexible menus that consider seasonal variability and community food sources may be ideal for meeting nutritional needs of school children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Two School Feeding Programmes in Ghana, West Africa

Owusu¹,

Colecraft²,

Aryeetey³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Child Health Nutr.

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Abstract:Background: Malnutrition of children in Ghana continues during school years. There is limited information on how school meals meet nutrient recommendations in Ghana.Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare energy and nutrient content of meals served by Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) and Non-Governmental School Feeding Programme (NGSFP) and adherence to nutrient recommendations.Methods: This was a cross sectional study design involving observation of school meals at two sites: GSFP and NGSFP. Average weights of a week's meal were converted to energy and nutrient equivalence and compared with international recommendations. Differences assessed with t-tests.Results: NGSFP provided significantly higher portion size (416 ± 96 g vs. 243 ± 50 g; p=0.007), energy (776 ± 427 kcal vs. 315 ± 24 kcal; p=0.042) and fats (17± 8 vs. 6 ± 2; p=0.019) but similar micronutrient contributions to GSFP. NGSFP met energy and macronutrient recommendation set by World Food Programme; whereas, GSFP did not meet the recommendations. Conclusion and Recommendations:The NGSFP had more energy and macronutrients per serving size than the GSFP. Regulation of meals served by GSFP should be reviewed to ensure they contribute to the adequacy of children's diets as well as meet recommendations set by World Food Programme.

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Assessing the quality of food served under a South African school feeding scheme: A nutritional analysis

Cited by 7 publications

References 39 publications

Paucity of Nutrition Guidelines and Nutrient Quality of Meals Served to Kenyan Boarding High School Students

Paucity of Nutrition Guidelines and Nutrient Quality of Meals Served to Kenyan Boarding High School Students

The Food and Nutrition Environment at Secondary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as Reported by Learners

Comparison of Two School Feeding Programmes in Ghana, West Africa

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