Nutritional Adequacy of Home-packed School Lunch in Nsukka, South East Nigeria

Background and Objective: Access to a nutritious mid-day meal is important for the overall well being and academic performance of school children. This cross-sectional study evaluated the nutrient content and percentage of Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) met by pupils who consumed home-packed lunch. Methodology: Two primary schools were purposively selected from a University town in South East of Nigeria. A total of 200 pupils and their mothers participated in the study. Questionnaire was used to obtain background information and socio-economic characteristics of the parents of the pupils. Home-packed lunch of each pupil was weighed for 3 days and food composition table used to calculate the mean nutrient content of the meals of all the children. The percentage of RDI met by the pupils was also calculated. Results: The results revealed that 90.2% of the pupils had breakfast at home and 78.3% went to school with home-packed lunch such as, jollof rice (21%), indomie noodles/spaghetti (17.5%), biscuits (28.7%) and pastries (14.7%). About 15% of the pupils bought foods from hawkers around the school compound. The pupils who consumed home-packed lunch met 1/2 of their carbohydrate, vitamin B and zinc, 1/3 of protein, iron and potassium, 1/20 vitamin A, 1/22 of calcium, 1/5 of vitamin C RDI. Conclusion: There is need for adequate nutritional counseling of parents/guardians on choice and combination of foods for school lunch that would meet the recommended 1/3 of the RDI for all nutrients needed for optimal growth, development and academic performance of school children.