A school meals program implemented at scale in Ghana increases height-for-age during midchildhood in girls and in children from poor households: A cluster randomized trial

Journal of Nutrition

Volumn 149, Issue 8, 2019, Pages 1434-1442

  Gelli, Aulo ^a   Aurino, Elisabetta ^b   Folson, Gloria ^c   Arhinful, Daniel ^c   Adamba, Clement ^d   Osei Akoto, Isaac ^d   Masset, Edoardo ^e   Watkins, Kristie ^b   Fernandes, Meena ^b   Drake, Lesley ^b   Alderman, Harold ^a  

^a INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (United States)

^b IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c University of Ghana   (Ghana)

^d UNIVERSITY OF GHANA   (Ghana)

^e UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

adolescence; impact evaluation; nutrition; school age; school meals

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENCE; ADOLESCENT; ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE; ANTHROPOMETRY; ARTICLE; BODY MASS; CHILD; CONTROLLED STUDY; EFFECT SIZE; FEEDING BEHAVIOR; FEMALE; GENDER; GHANA; HOUSEHOLD; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; POVERTY; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PRIMARY SCHOOL; PROGRAM IMPACT; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; SCALE UP; BODY HEIGHT; CLUSTER ANALYSIS; FAMILY SIZE; MEAL; SCHOOL;

ADOLESCENT; ANTHROPOMETRY; BODY HEIGHT; CHILD; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; CLUSTER ANALYSIS; FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS; FEMALE; GHANA; HUMANS; MALE; MEALS; POVERTY; SCHOOLS;

EID: 85071055111     PISSN: 00223166     EISSN: 15416100     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxz079     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. Black RE, Victora CG,Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, De Onis M, Ezzati M, Grantham-McGregor S, Katz J, Martorell R, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middleincome countries. Lancet 2013;382(9890):427-51.
2. Heckman JJ. Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children. Science 2006;312(5782) :1900-2.
3. Drake L, Fernandes M, Aurino E, Kiamba J, Giyose B, Burbano C, Alderman H, Mai L, Mitchell A, Gelli A. School feeding programs in middle childhood and adolescence [Internet]. In: Bundy DAP, de Silva N, Horton S, Jamison DT, Patton GC, editors. Child and adolescent health and development. 3rd ed. Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank; 2017. pp. 147-64. [Cited Apr 2019]. Available from: http://dcp-3. org/sites/de fault/files/chapters/DCP3 CAHD-Ch 12. pdf.
4. WFP. State of School Feeding Worldwide 2013. Rome: World Food Programme; 2013.
5. Kristjansson EA, Robinson V, Petticrew M, MacDonald B, Krasevec J, Janzen L, Greenhalgh T, Wells G, MacGowan J, Farmer A, et al. School feeding for improving the physical and psychosocial health of disadvantaged elementary school children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007;(1):CD004676.
6. World Bank. Open Database [cited Jan 2019]. Available from: https://data. worldbank. org/
7. Bundy D, Burbano C, Grosh M, Gelli A, Jukes M, Drake L. Rethinking school feeding: social safety nets, child development, and the education sector [Internet]. Washington (DC): World Bank; 2009 [cited 2013 Oct 18]. Available from: https://openknowledge. worldbank. org/bitstream/ handle/10986/2634/48742. pdf?sequence=1.
8. Jacoby HG. Is there an intrahousehold 'flypaper effect'? Evidence from a school feeding programme. Econ J 2002;112(476): 196-221.
9. Ahmed A. Impact of feeding children in school: evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI discussion paper. Washington (DC): International Food Policy Research Institute; 2004.
10. Kazianga H, de Walque D, Alderman H. School feeding programs, intrahousehold allocation and the nutrition of siblings: evidence from a randomized trial in rural Burkina Faso. J Dev Econ 2014;106: 15-34.
11. Fernandes M, Folson G, Aurino E, Gelli A. A free lunch or a walk back home? The school food environment and dietary behaviours among children and adolescents in Ghana. Food Secur 2017;9(5): 1073-90. 2019
12. Kubik MY, Lytle LA, Hannan PJ, Perry CL, Story M. The association of the school food environment with dietary behaviors of young adolescents. Am J Public Health 2003;93(7): 1168-73.
13. Wechsler H, Devereaux RS, Davis M, Collins J. Using the school environment to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Prev Med 2000;31(2):S121-37.
14. Ghana Statistical Service. 2010 Population and Housing Census: national analytical report [Internet]. 2013. p. 430. Available from: Nutritional status of school-age children in the Nkwanta South District-Volta Region of Ghana, http://www. statsghana. gov. gh/gssmain/fileU pload/pressrelease/2010-PHC-National-Analytical-Report. pdf. [cited Apr 2019]
15. Ghana Statistical Service. Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2014 [Internet]. Accra, Ghana: Ghana Statistical Service and Ghana Health Service; Rockville (MD): ICF International; 2015. Available from: https: //dhsprogram. com/pubs/pdf/FR307/FR307. pdf. [cited Apr 2019]
16. Abiba A, Grace ANK, Kubreziga KC. Effects of dietary patterns on the nutritional status of upper primary school children in Tamale metropolis. Pak J Nutr 2012;11(7): 689-707.
17. Owusu JS. Assessment of dietary intakes and nutritional status of school age children participating in school feeding [dissertation]. Legon: University of Ghana; 2013.
18. Kubi A, Laar A. Nutritional status of school-age children in the Nkwanta South District-Volta Region of Ghana. Eur Sci J 2014; 10(30):310-27.
19. Government of Ghana. Government of Ghana Draft National School Feeding Policy. 2015. Accra, Ghana.
20. Gelli A, Masset E, Folson G, Kusi A, Arhinful DK, Asante F, Ayi I, Bosompem KM, Watkins K, Abdul-Rahman L, et al. Evaluation of alternative school feeding models on nutrition, education, agriculture and other social outcomes in Ghana: rationale, randomised design and baseline data. Trials 2016;17(1):37.
21. Parish A, Gelli A. Trade-offs in costs, diet quality and regional diversity: an analysis of the nutritional value of school meals in Ghana. African J Food Agric Nutr Dev 2015;15(4): 10217-40.
22. Fernandes M, Galloway R, Gelli A, Mumuni D, Hamdani S, Kiamba J, Quarshie K, Bhatia R, Aurino E, Peel F, et al. Enhancing linkages between healthy diets, local agriculture, and sustainable food systems: the school meals planner package in Ghana. Food Nutr Bull 2016;37(4):571-84.
23. De Carvalho F, Dom BS, Fiadzigbey MM, Filer S, Kpekpena I, Lin C, Lombardi D, Lopex LE, Owusu-Nantwi V, Ramachandran A, et al. Ghana School Feeding Program: re-tooling for a sustainable future. Partnership for Child Development and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana; London, UK. June, 2011.
24. Kennedy G, Berardo A, Papavero C, Horjus P, Ballard T, Dop M, Delbaere J, Brouwer ID. Proxy measures of household food consumption for food security assessment and surveillance: comparison of the household dietary diversity and food consumption scores. Public Health Nutr 2010;13(12):2010-18.
25. Drake L, Woolnough A, Burbano C, Bundy D. Global school feeding sourcebook: lessons from 14 countries. London: Imperial College Press; 2016.
26. De Onis M, Onyango AW, Borghi E, Siyam A, Nishida C, Siekmann J. Development of a WHO growth reference for schoolaged children and adolescents. Bull World Health Organ 2007;85(9): 660-7.
27. Cooke E, Hague S,McKay A. TheGhana Poverty and Inequality Report: using the 6th Ghana Living Standards Survey 2016 [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://www. unicef. org/ghana/Ghana-Poverty-and-Ine quality-Analysis-FINAL-Match-2016(1). pdf. [cited Apr 2019]. United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF).
28. Merlo J, Chaix B, Yang M, Lynch J, Råstam L. A brief conceptual tutorial of multilevel analysis in social epidemiology: linking the statistical concept of clustering to the idea of contextual phenomenon. J Epidemiol Community Health 2005;59(6):443-9.
29. McKenzie D. Beyond baseline and follow-up: the case for more T in experiments. J Dev Econ 2012;99(2):210-21.
30. Leroy JL, Ruel M, Habicht J-P. Critical windows for nutritional interventions against stunting. Am J Clin Nutr 2013;98(3):854-5.
31. HayesRJ, Moulton LH. Cluster randomised trials. 2nd ed. Abingdon (UK): Chapman and Hall/CRC; 2017.
32. Aurino E, Gelli A, Adamba C, Osei-Akoto I, Alderman H. Food for thought? Experimental evidence on the learning impacts of a large-scale school feeding program in Ghana. IFPRI Discussion Paper. Washington (DC): International Food Policy Research Institute; 2018.
33. Jyoti DF, Frongillo EA, Jones SJ. Food insecurity affects school children's academic performance, weight gain, and social skills. J Nutr 2005;135(12):2831-9.