Cape Town - Children dependent on the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) noticed that following the Covid-19 lockdown period, the quality of the meals they received was not the same, the portions were not consistent or adequate, and the food lacked taste and flavour.
This is according to the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA) and the Food Evolution Research Laboratory (Ferl) in research titled: “The Effects of Covid-19 on In-school Nutrition”.
To understand, from the perspective of children, how they were affected by the shifts in in-school nutrition programmes during the pandemic, researchers had focus group discussions with children, principals, food handlers, and teachers in four provinces.
They also checked the percentage contribution of the school-fed diets to the children’s recommended dietary allowances (RDA) (for ages 7-10 years).
“Access to food had changed compared with before the Covid-19 pandemic. Children were no longer receiving the same portions they used to receive before.
For example fruit, vegetables and staple foods such as maize meal were no longer provided in the Western Cape,” they found.
One child from the Western Cape noted: “We used to get fish as well, but not any more.”
Another child noted: “Also, no maize meal any more. But before Covid-19 we used to get maize meal, yes, a lot of maize meal.”
The results from the menu evaluation showed that most of the NSNP lunch meals were not providing up to 25-30% of the children’s RDA for most micro and macro nutrients.
Only a few meals like the chicken liver with rice, which was only fed in Gauteng for lunch on Tuesdays, and pap with milk on a Thursday, seemed rich in most essential nutrients.
Researchers explained that a child who suffered any form of malnutrition in the first 1 000 days of life was prone to health problems such as fewer neural connections in the brain, leading to poor cognitive development. This damage was irreversible, and stunted children were observed to perform poorly at school and in the workplace.
For short-term hunger to be alleviated, food had to be provided every day.
“Children and their families appeared to draw on external and internal resources to cope with food insecurity during the pandemic.
“The food parcels, social protection grants and community support appeared to be instrumental in helping families.”
Recommendations in the research included an increase in the supply of fresh fruits, meat or even eggs to be added to the menus to boost protein supply and an increase in quantities fed, among others.
Dr Granville Whittle from the Department of Basic Education’s Educational Enrichment Services said R9.2 billion was allocated to the programme, but noted that there was no standardised menu, hence the deviation across provinces.
“Covid-19 was a huge learning curve around the importance of ensuring we keep school nutrition going at all times.”
He added that they would take this particular study through to council to give them an indication of how the programme was received in schools.
Cape Times