Rice, Posho And Beans May Lead To Malnutrition

NutritionWith Grace Canada-- A monotonous diet may put children off their food and kill their appetiteSo, your S1 child is going back to school. Perhaps for the first time your child will be joining boarding school and you are concerned about the school food. Yes, you have reason for concern. Some schools have fairly good menus while others need a lot of improvement.I strongly suggest that you check the school menu and compare it with the ideal. For simplicity let us look at one meal- lunch.I have included a sample of an ideal school lunch and a variety of foods to choose from. (See tables on the right.) Use them as guide to determine whether or not your child’s school lunch is balanced. Later we shall discuss breakfast, snacks and supper.Lunch should provide a third (1/3) of the child’s daily nutritional requirements. Almost all schools have a staple diet of posho, beans and rice. This is alright. However, there are several problems that my arise with such a monotonous diet:- The child can easily become bored with the monotony of rice and beans and posho, and not eat enough food. This may result in a certain degree of malnutrition.- Feeding on beans daily over a long period of time my cause plaque to form in the intestine. This may result in some level of mal-absorption, leading to some degree of malnutrition.- All foods have a small amount of naturally occurring toxins. Eating the same food everyday may cause the toxins to accumulate in the body leading to non-specific health problems.Hence it is important to give your child a variety of foods every day.Recommendations:- Parents, together with a nutritionist, and school personnel should be involved in planning school menus. Parents do not feel afraid to request representation at such an occasion.- Parents drop in at your child’s school lunch hour and see for yourself what your child gets for lunch.- Suggest to school Administration to open a juice and fruit bar where children can buy a variety of fresh fruits, juice Yoghurt and milk daily.Ends