DSM’s outlook on “hidden hunger”: School feeding programs are vital to offsetting malnutrition

02 Aug 2021 --- Hundreds of millions of children across the globe suffer from “hidden hunger.” While they are consuming enough calories to survive, the absence of a nutrient-rich, balanced diet leaves them lacking in essential vitamins and minerals.

DSM stresses that these micronutrient deficiencies can not only impair children’s growth and cognitive development, but also weaken their immune systems and increase susceptibility to disease.

“School feeding programs have for many years offered an effective, cost-efficient route to provide children with the calories and micronutrients they need to stay healthy,” the nutrition and health sciences company outlines. 

“But with many schools forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, access to essential nutrition has been restricted for the young people who need it most.”

As the world begins to reopen, school feeding programs will play a critical part in helping millions of kids catch up developmentally, both from an academic perspective and in supporting the building of a resilient immune system that will protect them into later life.

The critical necessity of school feeding programs
In January 2020, following a decade of sustained growth, the number of children receiving meals at school had reached an all-time high of 388 million worldwide, DSM outlines. 

In January 2020, following a decade of sustained growth, the number of children receiving meals at school reached an all-time high of 388 million worldwide.Just three months later, much of that hard-won progress had been lost. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold across the globe, 199 countries were forced to close their schools, leaving 370 million children without their one reliable meal of the day.

For decades, school feeding programs have provided an effective, efficient and safe method for addressing nutrient gaps on a large scale, helping make sure children receive both the calories and micronutrients required to fight infections and grow up healthily. 

Combating children’s food insecurity in children has been a critical focus since the pandemic’s first wave in March.

The endemic issue of hidden hunger
In concrete terms, UNICEF estimates 340 million children are not getting the vitamins and minerals they need to grow up healthily.

Not only is the scale of this issue critical – as this number is equivalent to one in two of the global children’s population – but due to the effects of malnutrition being often subtle, by the time the condition is recognized it can be too late to take action.

Hidden hunger can seriously affect a child’s educational performance, particularly their ability to concentrate, therefore negatively impacting the opportunities available to these individuals as adults.

“At their most basic level, school feeding programs can ensure children receive at least one meal a day, giving them both the energy to learn and the micronutrients they need to nourish their developing immune systems,” DSM underscores.

“The considerable benefits school feeding programs bring to children’s physical health can be further bolstered through the inclusion of fortified foods – such as rice, cereal blends, juice, milk, baked goods or yogurt – in the program.”

The importance of staple food fortification
Staple food fortification is the process of adding essential vitamins and minerals that address specific nutrient gaps or health needs to foodstuffs. This can drastically improve the nutritional credentials of the products that communities often rely on for most of their caloric intake – without affecting flavor, texture or cooking requirements.

Food fortification can drastically improve the nutritional credentials of the products that communities most often rely on for their caloric intake.The World Bank and the Copenhagen Consensus have ranked food fortification as one of the best investments in development in terms of cost effectiveness, with every US$1 invested in fortification estimated to generate US$27 in economic return from prevented treatment costs, improved earnings and enhanced work productivity.

An example of a fortification project in action can be found in Deogarh, India. In partnership with DSM and the World Food Programme, the Odisha Government supplies fortified rice under public distribution system to address nutritional deficiencies among school children.

Other companies active in food fortification include BASF, Kerry, Lubrizol Life Science Health and Rousselot, who each launched enriching functional solutions based on plant-based proteins, probiotics and beta-glucan ingredients.

In addition to fortified food, micronutrient powders offer another effective way to improve nutrition in children. These vitamin and mineral powders are usually supplied in easy-to-use, single sachets that can be added to school meals for multiple servings prepared in-school.

Supporting a healthy immune system with adequate nutrition
Nutritional scientists have linked the development of a healthy immune response to an adequate intake of certain micronutrients, in particular vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, folate, omega 3 polyunsaturated acids (PUFA) and minerals like zinc, selenium, copper and iron.

“Without enough of these nutrients, the body is less able to defend itself against pathogens or develop antibodies that can help protect against future infection,” DSM outlines.

“The prevalence of diseases caused or exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies was already high prior to the pandemic, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. But as travel restrictions, supply chain challenges and lockdowns have further reduced access to healthy, nutritious diets for vulnerable nations, the problem has deepened exponentially.”

In the short-term, these deficiencies may increase the immediate threat posed by infectious diseases, while also having long-lasting effects on educational attainment, chronic disease risk, and economic prospects for both individuals and nations.

By Benjamin Ferrer