Improving nutrition of school age kids through nutrition-sensitive food system approach
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognises that schools can make an important contribution in countries’ efforts to address food insecurity, poverty and tackle various forms of malnutrition. On top of the potential health, nutrition and education benefits with the latter being measured in terms of net enrolment rate, low dropout rates, better exam scores. Schools are ideal settings for food and nutrition programmes and services, because nutrition and education are closely linked and dietary, hygienic and exercise habits that affect nutritional status are formed during the school-age years. Many eating habits and behavioural patterns are developed during childhood and adolescent period. Schools can also be ideal for reaching large numbers of people, including youth, schools staff, families and communities. Children pass on the information that they received at school about good nutrition to their families and to the wider community. As children are widely perceived to be enthusiastic and able communicators both with their peers, families and wider community, if encouraged and appropriately informed, they can act as agents for change.
As such, schools are great entry point for reaching into the community and promoting good nutrition, including proper hygiene and sanitation practices with life-long healthy habits. School food and nutrition interventions can include one or more of the following components: school gardens, school meals, school nutrition standards, school food and nutrition policies, food production linked to school food procurement, nutrition education in the school curriculum and improvements in water and sanitation, as well as other activities that contribute to improvements in school children's health and nutrition. Through all these complementary interventions pupils can improve their diets, develop healthier food practices and extend these to their families and communities.