DONT SERVE SLOP FOR SCHOLL LUNCHES
In the midst of the current corruption scandal, a nutritionist addresses concerns over the poorly-managed school lunch programme
The public felt rage when they saw a video clip on social media wherein small students at Ban Tha Mai school in Surat Thani province were served khanom jeen with sprinkles of fish sauce as a school lunch. Nutrition-wise, it was a sad choice.
In the end, this is not just a story of unhealthy diets. Last week, the viral clip eventually led to an investigation conducted by anti-graft authorities in Surat Thani into the lunch programme, after which the school director was subsequently transferred.
The recent fermented-flour-noodle-and-fish-sauce lunch case later became a predecessor to other suspicious school meals, such as in Lop Buri and Saraburi, where complaints were lauded following teachers’ and parents’ concerns that the little ones receive adequate nutritional intake from a very tiny portion of the poor-looking foods.
Pasamai Egkantrong, a researcher at Mahidol University’s Institute of Nutrition, who has conducted numerous studies on child nutrition, said Thailand’s school lunch programme was established around 1952 as a solution to malnutrition among Thai children. Before the programme was initiated, it was found that a large number of primary students across the country had received insufficient food, in terms of both quantity and quality.
In 1992, the government-supported school-lunch fund was set up. The initial budget was 6 billion baht, to be spent on lunch for all school students from kindergarten until Grade 6.
Despite such a state-sponsored programme, designed to make youngsters healthier, it has been found that the country still lags behind when it comes to children’s growth and development.
Pasamai cited a survey conducted in 2012 on children aged six to 12 years old in four Asean countries — namely Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Almost 15% of Thai kids surveyed were found to have an IQ score of below 80. The situation was, however, better in Malaysia and Indonesia, where only about 10% and 6%, respectively, of children participating in the survey had a low IQ.
“IQ and nutrition are indeed correlated,” Pasamai said.
While the media reported that students in Ban Tha Mai school have been served khanom jeen and fish sauce for three years, Pasamai — as an expert in nutrition — voiced her concern, saying a week is actually too long and totally unacceptable for such a poorly nutritious menu that only gives carbohydrates and sodium. The state budget of 20 baht per meal per student, said Pasamai, is actually enough, although it doesn’t account for gas prices and labour costs.
Poor nutrition, especially in kids, she added, can render a lifelong negative impact on growth and development.
“Poor diets affect them physically and emotionally,” she explained. “This includes the development of organ systems like lungs and heart, the immune system, as well as the ability to perform daily activities. Intellectually, inadequate nutritional intake leads to poor brain function, increased susceptibility to diseases, and slow learning.”
To be part of the solution to malnutrition among kids, the Institute of Nutrition, in collaboration with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec), has initiated a project called Thai School Lunch. In a nutshell, it is an online portal giving detailed advice on healthy dishes for school lunch. Available are over 1,000 dishes wherein nutritional balance has been thought through and calculated by specialists. According to Pasamai, the Thai School Lunch programme has so far been implemented in over 27,000 schools across Thailand.
What makes a good school lunch for children, by the way? According to the researcher, there are three points to take into consideration: frequency, quantity and pattern.
In terms of frequency, from Monday to Friday schools should serve lunch containing rice with side dishes for four days. Individually portioned dishes (like pad
Thai or khao pad) should be served no more than once a week.
“One-dish meals can be either high or low in energy,” Pasamai said. “Dishes like boiled rice, khanom jeen and noodles give low energy, and serving that too often can result in children receiving insufficient nutrients. On the contrary, dishes like pad see ew [ stir-fried rice noodles] and fried rice are high in energy. Eating too much of them increases the risk of developing obesity.”
“School lunches should also have a wide variety,” she added. “The way schools pair something with something is also important. For example, a dish high in fats should not be paired with dessert that is made from coconut milk, but should instead always be served with fruits.”
Raising awareness regarding the significance of healthy diets and the negative impacts of poorly nutritious school lunches, according to Pasamai, can be an ideal solution to the school-lunch headache. But for a more concrete fix, Pasamai recommended that every school should have an in-house nutritionist or a nutrition teacher to oversee children’s meals instead of leaving all the decision-making to the cooks, many of whom fall short on nutrition-related knowledge.
“If schools have a nutritionist or a nutrition teacher, then he or she can help with dishes instead of letting cooks decide. Schools should have various sets of healthy dishes to be served on rotation, instead of serving only children’s favourites.
“Also, the idea of having a central kitchen — in every tambon, perhaps — should be put in place so that the central kitchen can then be in charge of preparing good lunches for every school in the neighbourhood. This way, quality can be controlled.”
For more information on the Thai School Lunch project, visit www.thaischoollunch.in.th.
IQ AND NUTRITION ARE INDEED CORRELATED