Mid-Day Meal Program at Schools

Tonnes of Food are Prepared for Mid-day Meals

Many of us are rarely aware of school lunch programs and mid-day meals. Even if we are mindful of these lunches, it may remind us of the delicious meal offered, our least-loved dish or the lunch counter staff. Mid-day meal program in primary schools was introduced in 1962 by the Tamil Nadu state government to offer free meals for government school children. The government of India later initiated the national program for nutrition support to primary education in the year 1995 which is popularly known as the ‘Mid-Day Meal Scheme’ presently. The state government funds for these meals provided at government schools and government-assisted primary schools. The key features of the program are listed below.

The Rule Maker

The Supreme Court of India directs all the state governments, instructing them on the kind of meals to be prepared and the calorie-content of each meal. The monitoring and supervision of the mid-day meal scheme is carried out by the department of school education and literacy, ministry of human health department.

What’s covered in the Meal???

The menu is created bearing in mind the necessity of the children and the regional food habits. The calorie content was increased from 300 kcal in 2004 to 450 kcal in 2006 with the protein content also increased for enhanced nutrition and health of the children. The meal includes cereal (rice/chapatti), pulses and vegetables with fruits sometimes, depending on the state budget.

Benefits of the Meal Program

This meal program has encouraged plenty of parents to admit their children in schools as it would prevent their kids from staying hungry and promote education. The enrollment rates have increased by 35% from 1984-85 to 2002-03. The school dropout rates have also decreases due to this program making it an important step towards the right to good food and good education.

Around 120 million children benefit from this meal program, making it one of the largest school programs in the world. Parents feel that their kids have become self-motivated to go to school because of the quality of food they get at school, this being the first meal of the day for many of them, which makes them concentrate more on studies.

Various NGO’s also provide mid-day school meals. With a combined effort from the government and the society we can make many more improvements and bring in creative and health changes to the meals offered to our beloved kids at school. If you are an NGO or a government organization looking out for dietitians/nutritionists to plan your meal programs for school children, please check out the website www.firsteatright.com.