Evaluation of a Food Supplement to School Children

Malnutrition interferes with a child's motivation, power of concentration and learning capacity. It results in the poor school performance of the child and low aspiration to higher education. Therefore only 40 per cent of the pupils entering the primary schools reach the fourth grade, which is the minimum to achieve lasting literacy. Thus malnutrition has become the primary cause for the huge educational waste. Hence this study was conducted to investigate the effects of malnutrition on mental abilities of selected children, five to eight years of age, in a selected rural area, and to study the changes in their mental abilities and nutritional status, after improving their diets.