Abstract:
The present study, entitled 'Nutritional and health impact of substituting
green gram by soya products in school lunch programme in Thrissur district' was
conducted among 150 school children, who were randomly selected, 50 each from
three groups VIZ., soya supplemented lunch (SSL), existing school lunch (ESL) and
no school lunch (NSL). The socio-economic details inferred through the survey
were found to be satisfactory. Nuclear families with better housing facilities and
good educational level wmthe striking features observed. Most of the fathers were
casual labourers. Monthly income in most of the families was up to Rs.2000 in all
groups. Most of the families owned their own houses.
Food consumption survey revealed that all were habitual non-
vegetarians. Cereals, other vegetables, fats and oils and sugar and jaggery were the
most frequently used food items. Dietary profile of school children revealed that
intake of all the food items, except green leafy vegetables met the daily requirement
and all the nutrients except thiamine and riboflavin were above the RDA in all the
groups.
Majority of the mothers were having positive opinion about the school
lunch programme. Most of the teachers opined that except for food materials, no
other financial support for school lunch programme is obtained from the
government.
Evaluation of defatted soya products at different replacement levels with
green gram showed that, soya grits at 20 per cent replacement level was the most
acceptable combination in terms of organoleptic and nutritive qualities.
Assessment of nutritional status after the study period revealed that,
significant difference existed between the three groups with regard to body weight,
height and MUAC, with SSL having more significant positive increment in body
weight, height, weight/height' and MUAC.
The most common nutritional deficiency disease observed among
children was anaemia, which got reduced in SSL and ESL groups. Dental caries
was observed in most ofthe children irrespective of the groups.
