Mid-day meal programme should provide?

RUHS, Jaipur, PB B.Sc Nursing Entrance-2018

Community Health Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: RUHS, Jaipur, PB B.Sc Nursing Entrance-2018

Explanation

The Mid-Day Meal Programme is designed to be a supplement to a child's home diet, not a replacement.
According to established guidelines, the meal should supply at least one-third (1/3) of the child's total daily energy (calorie) requirement.
The programme also aims to provide about half (1/2) of the child's daily protein needs.
This helps to address 'classroom hunger,' improve concentration, and boost school enrollment and attendance.

Option A: Providing two-thirds of the daily energy in a single meal would be excessive for a supplementary feeding program and does not align with the scheme's objectives.
Option B: This value is incorrect for the energy requirement. It represents the proportion of the daily protein requirement that the Mid-Day Meal is intended to provide.
Option D: A single school meal is not designed to cover the entire day's nutritional needs. Children are expected to receive other meals at home to complete their dietary requirements.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Nutritional norms of the Mid-Day Meal Programme (PM-POSHAN) as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Community health nurses and school health nurses are instrumental in monitoring the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal scheme, assessing the nutritional status of children, and providing health education on diet and hygiene.
This program is a cornerstone of public health in India, aiming to improve nutritional status, enhance learning capabilities, and increase school enrollment and retention, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
What if? If a child participating in the program is still found to be underweight or anemic, the nurse's role is to investigate further. This includes assessing for other factors like worm infestations, chronic illness, or inadequate diet at home, and referring for appropriate medical intervention and counseling.

How to Approach the Question

Step 1: Identify the core of the question. It asks for a specific factual detail about the Mid-Day Meal Programme's nutritional targets.
Step 2: Recognize this as a factual recall question related to a major national health program in India, a key topic in Community Health Nursing.
Step 3: Recall the fundamental principle of the scheme: it is a supplementary meal. This helps eliminate extreme options like 'Total energy requirement'.
Step 4: Differentiate between the two main nutritional targets of the program: energy (calories) and protein. The standard guideline is 1/3 for energy and 1/2 for protein.
Step 5: Select the option that correctly states the energy requirement, which is 1/3.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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