An assessment of school feeding program on academic performance of children aged (3 – 8 yrs) Kariara zone, Gatanga District.

Abstract

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2004) food is an important aspect that enhances proper learning to child nutrition is something that keeps one healthy and food is eaten to reduce hunger for the purpose of growth. Most children go to school hungry and to make matters worse they lack a balanced diet. A balance diet is vital for holistic development of the child. To stay healthy a child must eat all the required nutrients in the right quantity meals should be planned properly to avoid the malnutrition in children. Children's foods require more energy giving foods due to their vigorous activities, body building foods for repair worn out tissues and also because they need to grow. Children are the most vulnerable in the rapid growth age that requires a lot of nutritious food. When the children are not well fed they show signs of malnutrition such as stunted growth, anemia or low hemoglobin in the blood as a result of lack of iron with die introduction of the feeding programmes the learners will remain in preschools since they are given food at the right time. According to studies well fed children study with ease and become perfect learners and perfect parents in the future. One of the major objectives of taking a child to pre-school is to equip him or her with early learning experiences. These early experiences should enable him/her to achieve higher academic performances in future. Due to this reason the researcher developed an interest in finding out the effects of nutrition on academic performance of children aged 3-8 years.