| dc.description.abstract | The school-feeding programme was launched in Kenya in 1966. The aim was to
improve nutritional status, school enrolment" attendance, and academic achievement.
Little monitoring and evaluation of this programme has been done to assess it's
effectiveness. Some studies carried out in other parts of the world show that schoolfeeding
programmes have an effect on the nutritional status, school enrolment and
academic achievement of school children. However, there has been no evaluation in
Emuhaya Division. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of schoolfeeding
programme in improving the nutritional status and school attendance levels of
primary school children in Emuhaya Division of Vihiga District, Kenya. It was conducted
between January and April 2003 with the following objectives: to investigate and study
the effects of School Lunch Feeding Programmes on nutritional status and school
attendance levels of participants and non-participants respectively, and to assess their
food and nutrient intake. The diet quality of the school lunch was also assessed. Using
a cross sectional research design, the study involved 320 pupils. Interview schedules,
24-hour diet recall and anthropometry were the instruments used in data collection.
Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences computer software version 10,
frequencies, means, correlations and multiple regression were all employed in the data
analysis. Epi Info version 6 was used to analyze anthropometric data. Food composition
~ab'eswere used to compute the nutrient intake. of index children. From the results, the
demographic characteristics of households were not very different between the two
groups. However, the non-participants tended to come from households of low socioeconomic
index compared to participants. The prevalence of malnutrition as determined
xi
by weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height as well as absenteeism rate
weresignificantly higher (psO.05)among the non-participants than the participants. The
nutritional status of girls was generally better than that of the boys. The school lunch
providedmore calories and proteins to participating children than that provided by the
homelunch to non-participants. There was a positive association between the school
lunch, attendance and nutritional status. Thus, the nutritional status and attendance
levelsof participants were better than that of the non-participants.School Lunch Feeding
Programmesin Emuhaya Division have a positive effect on both nutritional status and
attendancelevels of participating children. The programmes should therefore continue
but with modifications to improve the nutritional quality since there is an acute food
shortage in the study area, which is likely to affect the nutritional status of school
childrennegatively. More schools and parents should be encouraged to venture into the
SchoolLunch Feeding Programme because of it's positive outcome. | en_US |
