School Feeding Programme on Cognitive Functioning of Primary School Children among Some Selected Schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated school feeding programme on the health of primary school children in Kaduna state, Nigeria. It also examined the impact of the programme on the academic performance of the children in schools where school feeding programme is in operation and where it is not. The survey method was used to gather information. The simple sampling was used to select subjects. The research subjects were 100 pupils from primary 4- 6 drawn from some primary schools, randomly selected from 10 local government areas of Kaduna state. Two instruments were designed by the researcher and used for this study. The reliability of the instrument was done using the split – half method. Data were analyzed using simple percentage. The analysis revealed that the type of food served in school, the number of time children are served food, availability of food vendors are pointers to improved health while in school. From the hypotheses tested, the result showed that there was significant difference in schools where school feeding is in operation than schools that don't practice the programme. Therefore, it is necessary that government should ensure that school feeding programme is introduced in all schools and there should be proper monitoring in schools where the programme is already in operation.