Effectiveness of School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) on the Academic Performance of Severely Wasted and Wasted Pupils of Mataas na Lupa Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In many parts of the world, School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) has been used with the belief that education and learning depend on good nutrition.SBFPs are considered a sound investment in education as these are associated with increased enrolment, improved school attendance, better performance, decreased incidence of grade level repetition, and decreased dropouts among learners. SBFPs also serve as platform for other human development outcomes, such as reducing hunger, aid in the development of children, improve the nutritional status and promote good health.In the Philippines, SBFP is being implemented mainly to improve nutritional status, improve school attendance, and to reduce dropouts among school children. It is essential to provide a balanced diet to children which would in turn enable them to increase their attention span hence better academic achievement. It was hypothesized that school feeding program has an impact on the success in the academic achievement of grade schoolers. Nutrition and health are powerful influences on a child's learning and how well a child performs in school. The effect of under nutrition on young children ages 0-8 can be devastating and enduring. In the areas of cognitive development, when there is not enough food, the body has to make decision about how to invent the limited food stuffs available.

METHODS

The respondents of the study are the 7 severely wasted and 31 wasted pupils in Grade I to Grade VI of Mataas na Lupa Elementary School. Their academic performance during the first quarter of the school year was the basis since it was the period wherein the feeding program was not yet implemented, while their academic performance in third grading was utilized as to compare with the previous performance of the pupils after the implementation of the program.To know the effectiveness the School-Based Feeding Program on the academic performance of the beneficiaries, the following were conducted:(1) interview of the researchers with the class advisers of the pupils on their performance in the class and (2) record the pupils' grades in all learning areas in the first quarter compared with their grades in the third quarter.

RESULTS

The results showed that there was a little effect on the academic performance of the pupils before and after the program as reflected in the data gathered from the advisers' class records.

DISCUSSIONS

Daily lunch, balanced diet, good nutrition, the implementation of Gulayan sa Paaralan Project and other health care projects contributed to the success of the program. Teachers, groups of parents and the adequate financial allocation and the facilities of the school also helped in achieving the success of the program. Hence it was recommended to continue the implementation of SBFP in the next school.