All are true of mid-day school meal programme, except?

NIMHANS Nursing Officer - 2019

Applied Nutrition & Dietetics

Medium

Appeared in: NIMHANS Nursing Officer - 2019

Explanation

The core principle of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is that it serves as a supplement to the child's home diet, not a replacement for it.
Its purpose is to bridge the nutritional gap and improve the overall dietary intake of children, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Stating that the meal is a 'substitute' for regular food is incorrect; the program is designed to augment, not replace, the family's dietary provisions.

Option A: This statement is true. The scheme's objective is to provide a significant portion of a child's daily nutritional needs, specifically about one-third of calories and half of the protein.
Option C: This statement is true. The program guidelines encourage the use of locally sourced food items to support local economies, ensure freshness, and maintain cost-effectiveness.
Option D: This statement is true. For a large-scale public health program to be sustainable, the meals must be affordable and simple to prepare in basic school kitchen facilities.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Principles and objectives of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (PM-POSHAN) as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
School health nurses play a vital role in monitoring the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal scheme, ensuring food safety, hygiene, and adequate nutrition.
Nurses can conduct regular health screenings (height, weight, signs of anemia) to assess the nutritional impact of the program on the student population.
What if? If a nurse observes a sudden outbreak of gastrointestinal illness among students after the mid-day meal, the immediate priority is to stop consumption, manage the affected children, and report it urgently to school and health authorities for investigation to prevent further cases.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the negative framing of the question with the word 'except'. This means you are looking for the false statement.
Read each option and evaluate it based on your knowledge of national health programs.
Option A: Recall the nutritional goals of the MDM. Providing about 1/3 of calories is a common standard for such programs, so this is likely true.
Option B: Think about the program's purpose. Is it to replace home food or add to it? 'Substitute' implies replacement, which is a strong claim and often not the goal of supplementary feeding programs.
Options C & D: Consider the logistics of a large-scale public program. Using local, cheap, and easy-to-prepare food is a practical necessity. These are very likely true principles.
Conclude that the statement about the meal being a 'substitute' is the most likely incorrect principle, as such programs are designed to be supplementary.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Principles and objectives of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (PM-POSHAN).
Stem keywords: mid-day school meal programme
Lead-in keywords: All are true, except
Negative lead-in flag: The question asks for the exception, the statement that is FALSE.

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E6 Parks TextBook of Preventive & Social Medicine part 2 — Subpart A (pp 1-232 of 464) p. 198-200