Government-Funded Meal Support Program for Low-Income Children through Convenience Stores : Current Status and Nutritional Quality of Available Meal Items in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The objectives of this study were to investigate the current status of the Korean government-funded meal support program for low-income children through convenience stores and to evaluate the nutritional quality of the meal items available under the program. The POS data of three convenient stores where children had used their electronic meal cards most often in Seoul during January 2010 and the kinds and amounts of ingredients of the meals items available to the children were obtained from the headquarter of the convenient stores. A total of 5,081 transactions by 693 children included in the POS data was analyzed. In addition, nutritional contents of meal items, which were meal boxes (11 kinds), kimbab (13 kinds), rice balls (27 kinds), inari sushi (1 kind), and sandwiches (26 kinds), were analyzed with Can Pro 3.0. The results showed that children had purchased flavored-milk products most often. Children tended to purchase meal items together with drinks (60.9% of transactions), but some purchased drinks (27.6%) or meal items only (11.5%). Except for meal boxes, none of the meal items satisfied 1/3 of Estimated Energy Requirements of the 9-11 year-old boys per day. The average energy contents of different kinds of meal boxes, kimbabs, rice balls, and sandwiches were 619, 357, 200, and 380 kcal, respectively, and the energy content of a package of Inari sushi was 457 kcal. Vitamin C amount was found to be deficient in all the meal items, compared to 1/3 of Recommended Intake of the 9-11 year-old boys per day. The results of this study could be useful to develop nutritionally appropriate meal items for the convenient stores participating in the government-funded meal support program for children from low-income families.

Diet of children under the government-funded meal support program in Korea

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diet of children under the government-funded meal support program. The 143 children (67 boys and 76 girls) participated in this study among 4th-6th elementary school students receiving free lunches during the summer vacation of 2007 and living in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea. The subjects consisted of four groups supported by Meal Box Delivery (n = 26), Institutional Foodservice (n = 53), Restaurant Foodservice (n = 27), or Food Delivery (n = 37). A three-day 24-hour dietary recall and a self-administered survey were conducted. In addition, the children's heights and weights were measured. The average energy intake of the children was 1,400 kcal per day, much lower than the Estimated Energy Requirements of the pertinent age groups. The results also showed inadequate intake of all examined nutrients; of particular concern was the extremely low intake of calcium. On average, the children consumed eight dishes and 25 food items per day. The children supported by Meal Box Delivery consumed more various dishes and food items than the other groups. The percentage of children preferring their current meal support method was the highest in those supported by Meal Box Delivery and the lowest in those supported by Food Delivery. We requested 15 children among the 143 children participating in the survey to draw the scene of their lunch time. The drawings of the children supported by Institutional Foodservice showed more positive scenes than the other groups, especially in terms of human aspects. In conclusion, the overall diet of children under the government-funded meal support program was nutritionally inadequate, although the magnitude of the problems tended to differ by the meal support method. The results could be utilized as basic data for policy and programs regarding the government-funded meal support program for children from low-income families.