Attached is a news release [in English, et en Fran ais] on "School-based
feeding programs: A good choice for children?", a research report released
today by Information Partnership. The text of the English news release is
included in the body of this message, below.
Please visit the Information Partnership website, www.InfoPartners.ca to
view or download a PDF of the full research report. Related materials on
key messages and media Q & As are also on the IP site.
*********
NEWS RELEASE
October 17, 2000
For Immediate Release
New study raises questions about school feeding programs
Victoria – School feeding programs don t solve child hunger and poor
nutrition, according to a research report released today by Information
Partnership, a Victoria-based social research firm.
"School-based Feeding Programs: A good choice for children?" by David Hay
was based on interviews with 28 experts in child health and feeding programs
across Canada and an extensive review of relevant Canadian research. It was
funded by Health Canada.
If we really want to solve child hunger, we need to develop a much broader
response than school meal programs, says Hay.
Some of the problems identified by experts interviewed for the report are
that the programs only feed children for about half of the year because they
don t operate on weekends or school vacations. They also don t provide any
help to poor families so that they are better able to buy adequate food for
their children. And the nutritional quality of the food offered in schools
has not been well researched.
While experts also identified some positive results of school feeding
programs, such as improved school attendance, positive social experiences
and a reduction of family time-stress, they worry that the programs have
been unable to demonstrate reductions in hunger and enhanced nutrition.
Experts have also observed that school feeding programs can increase
dependency and stigma for the children and families who use them.
The jury is really still out on school meal program effectiveness. There
is just not enough research to assess how well they meet the needs of
children who are not eating properly at home. Before investing further in
such programs, better research should be done. This would help us to know,
for example, how much of children s dietary needs such programs fill, says
David Hay.
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"School-based Feeding Programs: A good choice for children?" is available
online in Adobe PDF format at Information Partnership s website at
www.InfoPartners.ca
For more information, contact David Hay (250) 370-7566. Email:
[log in to unmask]
Information Partnership is an independent research, evaluation, and
information systems business based in Victoria, British Columbia.
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INFORMATION PARTNERSHIP
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1650 Chandler Avenue
Victoria BC V8S 1N6
t: 250 592 2220
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www.InfoPartners.ca
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In the early hours I read in the paper of epoch-making projects
On the part of pope and sovereigns, bankers and oil barons.
With my other eye I watch
The pot with the water for my tea
The way it clouds and starts to bubble and clears again
And overflowing the pot quenches the fire.
-- Bertolt Brecht
**************************************************************
Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
Graduate Department of Community Health
University of Toronto
McMurrich Building, Room 308
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A8
voice: (416) 978-7567
fax: (416) 978-2087
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