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| Year : 2014 | Volume
: 60
| Issue : 3 | Page : 345-346 |
Authors' reply
SC Nooyi, MN Srinivasa, S Shivanajiah, D Rajaram, SN Somanna, SS Puttajois
Department of Community Medicine, MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| Date of Web Publication | 14-Aug-2014 |
Correspondence Address:
Prof. S C Nooyi
Department of Community Medicine, MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
Nooyi S C, Srinivasa M N, Shivanajiah S, Rajaram D, Somanna S N, Puttajois S S. Authors' reply. J Postgrad Med 2014;60:345-6 |
Sir,
We thank author for comments on our article and present responses below. [1] As per the orders of government of Karnataka (effective 1 Oct 2004), the programme of midday meals has been extended to all government and government-aided primary school children up to 7 th standard and further was extended to all government and aided high-schools from 2007. [2] Hence, a comparison of children in schools receiving midday meals versus those not receiving them cannot be done and in fact would be unethical. There is enough evidence in literature to show that there is an impact of midday meals in improving the weights and heights of children receiving these meals. [3],[4]
In our schools, students receive three standard cups of rice of different recipes which amounts to an average of 864 kcals, (175.8 g carbohydrate and 11.4 gm of proteins) per day. The calories and protein consumption is based on the recommendations of Dr Mohan's Atlas More Details of Indian Foods. [5] This meets the suggested requirement of 700 calories and 12 g of protein. [2] Attendance and academic performance of children has not been assessed in this study since this was not the objective of the study. This limitation is also addressed in the editorial that accompanied the publication.
Regarding the proportion of underweight children (13.8% and 13.1%), one cause could be that because the meal in the school is the only meal the child gets. It may be a substitute and not a supplement as it is intended to be, as observed in another study. [6] Even so, the extent of children who were underweight is much lower than that found by other studies. [3],[7],[8]
Assessment of the impact of midday meals on reducing school dropout rates would be possible only through a longitudinal study.
| :: Acknowledgements | |  |
We are grateful to the Trustees and members of the Sri Sai Mandali Trust Malleswaram for their support in providing midday meals to school students. We would like to thank the Management of M S Ramaiah Medical College and Hospitals and M S Ramaiah Dental College for their support of all the school health related activities of the Department of Community Medicine. We sincerely thank Mr. Dinesh H K, Mr. Chethan and Mr. D K Shivaram, medico-social workers, in the Department of Community Medicine, M S Ramaiah Medical College for efficiently assisting in the data collection and data entry.
| :: References | | |
| 1. | Kaushal K. Impact of midday meals- have all variables been considered?. J Postgrad Med 2014;60:345. 
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| 2. | Shalini CN, Murthy NS, Shalini S, Dinesh R, Shivaraj NS, Suryanarayana SP. Comparison of nutritional status of rural and urban school students receiving midday meals in schools of Bengaluru,India: A cross sectional study. J Postgrad Med 2014;60:118-22.
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| 3. | Karnataka Government, Department of Public Instructions, Evaluation of Mid Day Meals of mid-Day Meals Programme in Karnataka,Office of the Joint Director (Mid Day Meals), Bangalore, 2011.
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| 4. | Gopaldas T. Improved effect of school meals with micronutrient supplementation and deworming. Food Nutr Bull 2005;26(Suppl 2): S220-9.
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| 5. | Sharma AK, Singh S, Meena S, Kannan AT. Impact of NGO run midday meal program on nutrition status and growth of primary school children. Indian J Pediatr 210;77:763-9.
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| 6. | Sudha V, Mohan V, Anjana RM, Kamala Krishnaswamy,editors. Dr. Mohan′s Atlas of Indian Foods.Chennai:Dr. Mohan′s Health Care Products Private Limited;2013.p. 11-9.
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| 7. | Agarwal DK, Agarwal KN, Upadhyay SK. Effect of mid-day meal programme on physical growth andmental function. Indian J Med Res 1989;90:163-74.
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| 8. | Chandra PK, Padennavar UM, Sadashivappa T, Prabhakara GN. Nutrition Assessment Survey of school children of Dharwad and Haliyal Taluks , Karnataka state. Paper published in KUSET-Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering & Technology Vol 1 No 2 , March 2006- available at www.ku.edu.np/kuset.
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