Assessment of Fish Consumption in School Feeding Programs: Experiences from Lindi Municipality, Tanzania

Assessment of Fish Consumption in School Feeding Programs: Experiences from Lindi Municipality, Tanzania

This study aimed at assessing the extent of the inclusion of fish in the Lindi Municipality’s primary schools as an important source of animal protein. Tanzania school feeding guidelines proposed fish as one of the food items that should be considered to prepare children’s meals at school. However, it might not be considered or included in the diet due to the high cost and perishability of fish products, beliefs that children don’t like fish, food safety (as some may be worried about fish bones), supply or access to raw materials or organizational capacity (Ahern et al. 2021). The abundance of fish in the total diet can be affected by the household size (in this case be number of children to be fed), and economic status, which directly affects also its consumption (Ahern et al. 2021). In Lindi Municipality, fish is more available than the other sources of animal protein, then based on this, two questions could be asked, first is fish one of the main sources of animal protein in the School Feeding Program in the Municipality and second, if not why and what are the other sources and if yes, to what extent is fish included in their meals. In Lindi Municipality, the extent of fish inclusion in meals provided by schools is unknown. Specific objectives were: 1) to assess if the food contents of school feeding and nutrition services programs in primary schools in Lindi Municipality conform to the National Guidelines on School Feeding and Nutrition Services. 2) to investigate protein sources used to prepare pupils’ menu in selected primary schools in Lindi Municipality. 3) to examine the perceptions on school feeding program in selected primary schools in Lindi Municipality. Results showed that, meals provided to children at school in Lindi Municipality contain food sources that conform 60% with those indicated in Tanzania food guidelines. Due to high price, fish is rarely included in meals provided to children at school (especially government primary schools). Implementation of school feeding program is perceived to be low since it is not prioritized during budgeting. These findings call the implementation committee of the Lindi Municipality to act accordingly since these programs are critical and very important to children when they are at school not only to reduce hunger among them but also improving their cognitive abilities.