The mid-day meal program, also known as the school lunch program, provides meals to students in schools across India with the objectives of increasing enrollment, reducing dropout rates, and improving nutritional status. It began in 1961 and became universalized nationwide by 2005. The meal aims to provide at least one-third of daily nutritional needs and is prepared using locally sourced ingredients with changing menus. The program helps foster social equality and gender equity while enhancing children's cognitive, emotional, and social development.

1. MOHD YASEEN WANI
&
MIR UBAID ASHRAF
STUDENTS OF BSC NURSING
4TH YEAR
AMCNMT
IUST
KASHMIR

2. Symbol of mid day meal scheme

3. MID DAY MEAL PROGRAM (MDMP)
 INTRODUCTION
The program is otherwise known as school lunch
program
The school mid day meal program is in practice in
India since 1961
Part of national nutritional programs

4. • DEFINITION
The mid day meal scheme is a school meal
program of the government of India designed to
improve the nutritional status of school-age
children nationwide

5. HISTORY
 Introduced in 1925 in Madras corporation by the
British administration
 Introduced in the union territory of Puducherry by
French administration in 1930
 Program was introduced in Tamil Nadu in 1960s
under the chief minister K.Kamaraj Nadar and in
1982 it decided to universalize the program for all
children in government schools in primary class
under the chief minister Dr. M.G.Ramachandran
 Tamilnadu’s midday meal program is among the best
known in the country.

6. History contd…
• Kerala started providing cooked meals since 1995
and so did Madhya Pradesh and Orissa in some parts
• On November 28,2001 the supreme court of India
gave a landmark direction which made it obligatory
for government to provide cooked meals to all
children in all government and government assisted
primary schools
• Program became almost universal by 2005

7. TO Enhance Admission Of Children In The School
To enhance student’s attendance and retention
To improve literacy of the children
OBJECTIVES

8. PRINCIPLES OF MID DAY MEAL PROGRAM
 The meal should be a supplement not a substitute to
the home diet
 The meal should supply at least one-third of the total
energy requirement and half of the protein need
 The cost of the meal should be reasonably low
 The meal should be of that which can be easily
prepared
 Made out of locally available foods to reduce the cost
 Frequent changes in the menu to avoid monotony

9.  Note
The mid day meal program became part of the
minimum needs program in the 5th five year plan

10. Mid Day Meal Scheme
 Centrally sponsored scheme, the “National program of
Nutritional support to primary education (NP-NSPE)
was launched on 15th August 1995
 It was initially implemented in 2408 blocks in the
country.
 By 1997-98, this program was implemented in all over
the country
 Initially it served only class I-V of government,
government aided and local body schools
 In 2002 children studying in education guarantee school
(EGS) and alternative and innovative education (AIE)
centers were also covered

11. Key information
 Central assistance under the scheme consisted of free
supply of food grains at 100 grams per child per school
day, and subsidy for transportation of food grains
 The scheme was revised in 2004 to provide cooked
midday meal that would yield 300 calories and 8-12
grams of protein to all children studying in classes I-V
 As per the revision made in October 2007, the scheme
was extended to cover children in upper primary (classes
VI to VIII) of educationally backward blocks (EBBs)

12. Purposes
 To enhancing enrollment of children in the school
 To enhance students’ attendance retention
 To improve nutritional status of children

13. Objectives
 Improving the nutritional status of children of
classes I-VIII studying in government, local body
and government aided schools, and EGS and AIE
centers
 Encouraging poor children, belonging to
disadvantaged sections, to attend school more
regularly and help them concentrate on classroom
activities
 Providing nutritional support to children of primary
stage in drought affected areas during summer
vacation

15. Suggestions for preparation of nutritious meal
 Food be stored in air tight containers
 Use whole wheat or broken wheat
 Rice should be par boiled or unpolished
 Single dish meal with vegetable is advocated
 Cereal pulse combination should be used
 Sprouted pulses should be included
 Wash the ingredients before cooking
 Fermentation improves nutritive value.

16. Contd …
• Cooking must be done with lid to avoid wastage of
nutrients
• Over cooking should be avoided
• Avoid re heated oil
• Leafy top of carrot, radish should be used in cooking
• Use only iodized salt

17. Components Primary child Upper primary
child
Calories 450 700
Protein 12g 20g
Micronutrients Adequate quantities of micronutrients like iron,
folic acid and vitamin A
Table 1. Nutritive value of mid day meal scheme in school

20. Benefits of Mid Day meal scheme
 Admissions in schools will be enhanced
 Children attend school regularly
 Facilitate healthy growth of children
 Opportunity to impact various good habits in
children e.g handwashing
 Fosters social equality
 Helps to enhance gender equity
 Facilitates cognitive, emotional and social
development of children

21. Role of community health nurse
 Nurses play an important role in monitoring and
implementation of the scheme
 Nurses can monitor the scheme on a daily roster basis
 Nurses monitor the cleanliness in cooking and serving
places
 Nurses assist in preparing the menu for meals
 Nurses educate the staff about good cooking practices
and food hygiene
 Nurses can educate the students regarding food habits

22. Summary
 Mid day meal program also known as school lunch
program is in practice since 1961 with prime
objective to increase enrollment of students and
improve nutritional status of children
 In 2005 program became universalized after
direction of supreme court of India in 2001
 Centrally sponsored scheme, the “National program
of Nutritional support to primary education (NP-
NSPE) was launched on 15th August 1995

23.  The meal provided is as supplement not the
substitute to home diet and is prepared at school
from locally available resources with changing menu
 The program was first introduced to primary school
and later on scope was extended upto 8th class
 Objectives are to improve enrollment, reduce
dropouts and improve nutritional status of children
 Meals are provided through out the year including
summer vacations

24. Conclusion
 To conclude let me remind you that in this topic we
discussed regarding definition, history, objectives
and principles of mid day meal program. Further we
discussed about mid day meal scheme, its purposes,
objectives and benefits. Lastly we discussed about
nurses role in this program

25. Bibliography
 Manivannan D shyamala Textbook of community
health nursing-II
 Micheal jeba ansari Textbook of community health
nursing