Comparison of nutritional status of rural and urban school students receiving midday meals in schools of Bengaluru, India

Shalini, C N Sai; Murthy, N S; Shalini, Shweta; Rajaram, Dinesh; Shivaraj, N S; Suryanarayana, S P

doi:10.4103/0022-3859.132309

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The anthropometric characteristics of all participants across the three trial arms at baseline were similar. Prevalence of stunting (10%) and underweight (18%) were comparable to those reported in rural schoolchildren aged 5-14 years from Bengaluru (17% stunting and 17% underweight) [41].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Occurrence of infections in schoolchildren subsequent to supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

et al. 2020

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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D and zinc are recognized for their roles in immune-modulation, and their deficiencies are suggested to be important risk factors for childhood infections. This study, therefore, undertook to assess the occurrence of infections in rural Indian schoolchildren, subsequent to daily supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc for 6 months. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in apparently healthy 6-12 year-old rural Indian children, recruited to 3 study arms: vitamin D arm (1,000 IU D3-500 mg calcium, n = 135), zinc arm (10 mg, n = 150) and placebo arm (n = 150). The infection status was assessed using a validated questionnaire, and the biochemical parameters of serum 25(OH)D and serum zinc were measured by ELISA and colorimetry, respectively. The primary outcome variable was occurrence of infections (upper respiratory and total infections). RESULTS: Serum 25(OH)D concentration in the vitamin D arm improved significantly by 34%, from 59.7 ± 10.9 nmol/L to 80 ± 23.3 nmol/L (P < 0.0001), but no improvement was observed for serum zinc concentration. While there was significant increase in the percentage of children reporting no or mild upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and total infections (TI) in all three groups, improvements in the supplemented groups were similar to the placebo group. However, the vitamin D arm reported lower URTI and TI status in the vitamin D sufficient versus insufficient children. Also, URTI and TI status were found to be significantly (P < 0.0001) lower in children with improved 25(OH)D versus unchanged 25(OH)D. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D-calcium supplementation helped to improve the vitamin D status but exerts no effect on the occurrence of infections when compared to the placebo group. Improvement in the serum 25(OH)D concentrations and attainment of vitamin D sufficiency may exert a beneficial effect on the infection status and needs to be investigated further. To evaluate the efficacy of zinc supplementation, higher dosages need to be administered in future studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Occurrence of infections in schoolchildren subsequent to supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

et al. 2020

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“…School meals programs are widely considered as one of the most effective interventions to simultaneously improve nutrition and education outcomes for schoolchildren in developing countries [5]. School meals programs contribute to alleviating short-term hunger in schoolchildren, which increases their ability to concentrate and learn while they are at school [6,7]. Such programs also increase student enrolment, attendance and retention rates [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home-grown school feeding: assessment of a pilot program in Nepal

Shrestha

Schreinemachers²,

Nyangmi³

et al. 2020

BMC Public Health

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Background: The Nepal School Meals Program reached 600,000 schoolchildren in basic education in 2017 and plays a key role in the government's strategy to increase children's academic and nutritional outcomes. A large part of the program is implemented through cash transfers with schools responsible for the school meal delivery. Home-grown school feeding, an approach in which local communities are given greater control over the school meals program and part of the food is sourced locally, may strengthen local ownership and improve meal quality, but there is a lack of evidence for impact. Methods: This study piloted home-grown school feeding in 30 schools reaching nearly 4000 children in Sindhupalchok and Bardiya districts in Nepal with the aim to assess operations and outcomes in comparison to the regular cash-based school meals program. The study used a one-time post evaluation with a mixed methods approach. Qualitative data were collected through 12 focus group discussions and 28 key informant interviews with government and school staff, parents, cooks, cooperative members, World Food Programme representatives and other stakeholders involved in the pilot program. The quantitative part applied a quasi-experimental design and used cross-sectional data collected from 1512 children in 30 pilot and 30 control schools. Results: The quantitative data indicated that children in the pilot schools had a significantly higher provision of midday school meals (+ 19%; p < 0.01) and a higher school meal quality in terms of dietary diversity (+ 44%; p < 0.01) and nutritional content (e.g. a 21%-points higher consumption of vitamin A-rich fruit and vegetables; p < 0.01). The qualitative data identified key drivers of these positive outcomes as the use of standard meal options, capacity building of local stakeholders, strengthened community ownership and accountability mechanisms, and local food supply chains. Maintaining the observed gains would require a 20-33% increase in the current budget per school meal in addition to the cost of capacity building. Conclusions: This study for Nepal shows that home-grown school feeding strengthened operations of the school meals program and led to a significantly higher meal provision and quality of school meals.

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“…In a study done in Rural and Urban areas of Bangalore 18 among mid day meal beneficiaries, it was found that the prevalence of undernutrition was 13.8% and in a study done in Mangalore 19 it was observed that prevalence of thinness among female students was 15.8%. These studies showed less prevalence than the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A community based study on factors influencing body mass index of adolescent girls in urban area of Bagalkot, Karnataka

Gayakwad¹,

Shankar²

2019

IJFCM

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Introduction: Among adolescents, girls are a doubly vulnerable group due to deep-rooted gender discrimination and other socio-cultural factors that are prevailing in our Indian society. Objective: To study the factors influencing body mass index of adolescent girls residing in the urban field practice area of S. N. Medical College, Bagalkot. Study design: A Community based cross sectional study. Setting: Field practice area of urban health training center, Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College in Bagalkot.Participants: 400 unmarried adolescent girls. Sampling: Systematic random sampling. Statistical Analysis: Data was tabulated in Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed by using Open Epi software. P-value was calculated using chi-square test and difference was accepted significant at more than 95% (p-value <0.05). Results: Factors significantly associated with thinness were mother's literacy, family size, mid day meal and dietary intake less than RDA (p<0.05). Factors not significantly associated with thinness were religion, and father's literacy, Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of thinness was significantly high in girls whose mothers were illiterates. Thinness was also seen in girls from large families and Dietary intake less than RDA.

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Comparison of nutritional status of rural and urban school students receiving midday meals in schools of Bengaluru, India

Abstract: Greater involvement of the private sector to assist the government would help augment nutrition in children and indirectly impact school performance, attendance and literacy.

Cited by 15 publications

References 2 publications

Occurrence of infections in schoolchildren subsequent to supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Occurrence of infections in schoolchildren subsequent to supplementation with vitamin D-calcium or zinc: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Home-grown school feeding: assessment of a pilot program in Nepal

A community based study on factors influencing body mass index of adolescent girls in urban area of Bagalkot, Karnataka

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