Nutritional Assessment of Meals Provided to Some Pre-School Children in Central Region, Ghana

Abstract

Background and Objective: The provision of healthy meals and good nutrition is considered a high priority on every school agenda because of its positive effect on child well-being. Evidence suggests that healthy meals and good nutrition improve learning ability, leading to better academic performance. Many countries including Ghana who prioritised quality nutrition for school children launched various school feeding programmes to provide at least one square meal to children at the lower school levels. In Ghana, some private basic schools adopted the school feeding programme to increase enrolment. This study attempted to assess the nutritional quality of meals provided to children in some of these private basic schools in Cape Coast, Ghana. Materials and Methods: Seven schools were randomly selected from which rations of meals served were collected. Both micro and macronutrients were determined and compared with recommended values to assess the nutritional quality of the lunch meals provided to the children in these schools. Results: The results obtained showed that almost all food providers in these schools served meals that contain varying amounts of all the necessary micro and macro-nutrients. In addition, the meals contained the recommended levels of the important macronutrients: protein and carbohydrate with fat content was slightly lower than the recommended values. However, all the meals provided to the children in all the selected schools did not contain adequate amount of micronutrients. All the micronutrients analysed did not meet the recommended values. Conclusion: Children in these schools are likely to suffer from some deficiency diseases if they continue to depend on the meal served in the schools as their major meal in the day. Providers must be educated on nutrition guidelines while routine check and control measures are required in place to monitor the services rendered by these food providers.