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Prioritise school feeding to avoid malnutrition
When Covid-19 caused closure of schools globally, including in Uganda last year, many school-going children had to miss out on school meals that they had relied upon for essential nutrition. The director of the school meals division at the World Food Programm, Carmen Burbano, referred to this mass closure as “probably the largest catastrophe in the education systems of our lifetime,” without the certainty of ever returning to the classroom. Nearly 1.6 billion children were put out of school unexpectedly.
Today, as many schools remain largely closed 11 months into the Covid-19 pandemic, school feeding programmes are not definite as the economy has been affected. Millions of households are suffering job and livelihood losses; reduced food production and distribution; as well as inadequate or lack of social safety nets, including school feeding programmes.
This has intensified food insecurity among vulnerable families yet for many children from very poor backgrounds, a school meal may perhaps often be the only one they get each day.
School meals have been missed globally since the breakout of Covid-19 due to closure of schools, according to a new report released on January 28 by Unicef and the World Food Programme (WFP).
‘The Covid-19: Missing More Than a Classroom’ report reveals that 370 million children worldwide, many of whom are reliant on school meals, as a key source of their daily nutrition, have missed 40 per cent of in-school meals, on average, since Covid-19 restrictions shuttered classrooms.
It establishes that there has been a 30 per cent overall reduction in the coverage of essential nutrition services, including school feeding, micronutrient supplementation, and nutrition promotion programmes in low- and middle-income countries, as well as programmes for the treatment of severe malnutrition in children. School meals alleviate short-term hunger, provide energy and nutrients for growth and development of school children. Adequate nutrition guarantees better health status and ensures sustained attention span for better academic performances. Healthier and better nourished children stay in school longer, learn more and later become healthier and more productive adults.
The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to create malnutrition endemic as many children can no longer get the lifesaving school meals. Each day, with reduced nutrition, raises the possibility of worsening malnutrition that in the long-term compromises children’s cognitive and physical development.
According to a World Bank report, Covid-19 pandemic threatens the Human Capital (HC) potential of children worldwide. It warns that Covid-19 could cause the Human Capital Index (HCI) scores for countries to drop by an average of 1 per cent, implying that the future of millions of children will be set back due to early mortality, illness, hunger and malnutrition, dropping out of school, and entering the workforce early. It particularly relates to girls who will be more likely to be forced into early marriage, early pregnancy, and sexual abuse and exploitation.
In tandem with Unicef and WFP, the Civil Society Alliance for Nutrition Uganda is urging government to prioritise schools for reopening while ensuring that the health, food and nutritional needs of children are met through comprehensive, high-quality school feeding programs
Similarly, Triple action among relevant stakeholders to invest in school feeding programs so that a bridge to the future is provided, and children’s ability to reach their full potential is guaranteed.
Georgine Obwana,
