University meals lack nutritional values â€" research
Aug 06, 2006
THE New Vision recently carried a series of articles on the feeding and sanitation situation in boarding secondary schools. However, a research has shown that diet provided in Ugandan higher institutions of learning is far below standard, <b>Dr Phoebe Kabanza</b> writes.
research findings show that the diet provided in Ugandan higher institutions of learning is equally far from meeting the nutritional needs of students.
A combination of financial constraints and lack of qualified staff handling the meals means the students do not only get little food, but also the calories derived from the food is far less than those recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The students are actually starving, especially those who are financially disadvantaged.
In the 2003 research that resulted into a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) degree award, a scientific analysis of meals provided to students at Makerere, Mbarara, Nkozi and Nkumba universities found the metabolisable energy derived from the cooked food provided less than one-third of the 1987 WHO Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for the 19-30 year age group for educational institutions for moderate physical activity level.
According to the WHO, the RDA of 2200 kilocalories per day is recommended for females and 3000 kilocalories for males in educational institutions.
However, although the universities planned menus meet the WHO recommendations, none of them provided meals with the required RDA. Makerere meals were planned to give 2,924 kilocalories but what is given can only provide 700 kilocalories per day, the research showed.
While Mbarara had planned meals to provide 4,341 kilocalories, the meals provided just yield 440 kilocalories. Nkumba’s meals yield 958 kilocalories per day against the planned 2,925. Nkozi provided the best diet that yields 1410 kilocalories per day, but this is still below its planned 3617 kilocalories.
Eaten in these quantities, it means the students that rely on the institutional meals do no derive enough calories to keep up with the academic rigours.
Officials in public universities say the sh1,050 government allocates for feeding per student per day is too little to provide the RDA.
The research also found that the actual quantity of food served to students, regardless of the status of the institution was inadequate. The study showed lack of seriousness on the side of universities when handling institutional food. The cooking facilities were inadequate as more attention is geared towards academic facilities. When planning meals, emphasis was on a full stomach and not the nutritional quality. There was a tendency to recruit any one to handle institutional meals while those engaged in menu formulation focused on financial control.
The marginalized catering officers had no morale to supervise their subordinates, therefore, the food cooked was not only unpalatable but also inadequate. The kitchen staff were found to be overworked as they also doubled as waiters in some institutions.
The study recommended that universities improve on food handling facilities, the workload of kitchen staff reduced and only qualified kitchen staff hired. Special attention should be paid to nutritional quality of meals for the age groups rather than emphasizing quantity. Seminars and workshops should be organized for food handlers.
Universities should provide adequate budget for food and cultivate honesty among workers to avoid food loss. The work of food handlers should be appreciated as a motivating factor. Effective monitoring and supervision of food preparation and service should be more effective.
Students should be facilitated to enjoy their meals. For instance, proper dining halls should be provided rather than the students carrying their meals to halls. Food vending should be more organised and made legal. If institutions cannot manage running the catering services efficiently and effectively, these should be privatized to capable contractors.
It should be appreciated that hungry students would not achieve much from the education system. Therefore, nutritional policy at national level needs to be strengthened to enlighten the population on the relevance and application of nutritional knowledge in food selection from available foods, cooking and consumption to promote good health and productive life.
The writer is a specialist in foods, nutrition and dietetics and a lecturer at Makerere University Business School
0772 - 602288
A combination of financial constraints and lack of qualified staff handling the meals means the students do not only get little food, but also the calories derived from the food is far less than those recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The students are actually starving, especially those who are financially disadvantaged.
In the 2003 research that resulted into a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) degree award, a scientific analysis of meals provided to students at Makerere, Mbarara, Nkozi and Nkumba universities found the metabolisable energy derived from the cooked food provided less than one-third of the 1987 WHO Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for the 19-30 year age group for educational institutions for moderate physical activity level.
According to the WHO, the RDA of 2200 kilocalories per day is recommended for females and 3000 kilocalories for males in educational institutions.
However, although the universities planned menus meet the WHO recommendations, none of them provided meals with the required RDA. Makerere meals were planned to give 2,924 kilocalories but what is given can only provide 700 kilocalories per day, the research showed.
While Mbarara had planned meals to provide 4,341 kilocalories, the meals provided just yield 440 kilocalories. Nkumba’s meals yield 958 kilocalories per day against the planned 2,925. Nkozi provided the best diet that yields 1410 kilocalories per day, but this is still below its planned 3617 kilocalories.
Eaten in these quantities, it means the students that rely on the institutional meals do no derive enough calories to keep up with the academic rigours.
Officials in public universities say the sh1,050 government allocates for feeding per student per day is too little to provide the RDA.
The research also found that the actual quantity of food served to students, regardless of the status of the institution was inadequate. The study showed lack of seriousness on the side of universities when handling institutional food. The cooking facilities were inadequate as more attention is geared towards academic facilities. When planning meals, emphasis was on a full stomach and not the nutritional quality. There was a tendency to recruit any one to handle institutional meals while those engaged in menu formulation focused on financial control.
The marginalized catering officers had no morale to supervise their subordinates, therefore, the food cooked was not only unpalatable but also inadequate. The kitchen staff were found to be overworked as they also doubled as waiters in some institutions.
The study recommended that universities improve on food handling facilities, the workload of kitchen staff reduced and only qualified kitchen staff hired. Special attention should be paid to nutritional quality of meals for the age groups rather than emphasizing quantity. Seminars and workshops should be organized for food handlers.
Universities should provide adequate budget for food and cultivate honesty among workers to avoid food loss. The work of food handlers should be appreciated as a motivating factor. Effective monitoring and supervision of food preparation and service should be more effective.
Students should be facilitated to enjoy their meals. For instance, proper dining halls should be provided rather than the students carrying their meals to halls. Food vending should be more organised and made legal. If institutions cannot manage running the catering services efficiently and effectively, these should be privatized to capable contractors.
It should be appreciated that hungry students would not achieve much from the education system. Therefore, nutritional policy at national level needs to be strengthened to enlighten the population on the relevance and application of nutritional knowledge in food selection from available foods, cooking and consumption to promote good health and productive life.
The writer is a specialist in foods, nutrition and dietetics and a lecturer at Makerere University Business School
0772 - 602288