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Effects of The School Based Feeding Program To The Nutritional Status and Academic Performance of The Learners

The study examined the effects of a school-based feeding program on the nutritional status and academic performance of learners at Tagpaco Elementary School during the 2022-2023 school year. Results indicated significant improvements in the Body Mass Index (BMI) of students after the program, but no significant correlation was found between BMI and academic performance. The findings suggest that while the feeding program effectively improved nutritional status, other factors may influence academic outcomes, warranting continued support and enhancement of the program.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
9 views12 pages

Effects of The School Based Feeding Program To The Nutritional Status and Academic Performance of The Learners

The study examined the effects of a school-based feeding program on the nutritional status and academic performance of learners at Tagpaco Elementary School during the 2022-2023 school year. Results indicated significant improvements in the Body Mass Index (BMI) of students after the program, but no significant correlation was found between BMI and academic performance. The findings suggest that while the feeding program effectively improved nutritional status, other factors may influence academic outcomes, warranting continued support and enhancement of the program.
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EFFECTS OF THE SCHOOL BASED FEEDING PROGRAM TO THE

NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE


OF THE LEARNERS

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

Volume: 24
Issue 8
Pages: 895-905
Document ID: 2024PEMJ2309
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13683786
Manuscript Accepted: 07-09-2024
Psych Educ, 2024, 24(8): 895-905, Document ID:2024PEMJ2309, doi:10.5281/zenodo.13683786, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Effects of the School Based Feeding Program to the Nutritional Status and Academic Performance
of the Learners
Karl Vincent D. Macarandan*, Omar Q. Hussien
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to determine how well the school lunch program affected students' dietary needs and
academic performance. It took place at Tagpaco Elementary School in the 2022–2023 school year. To collect the
necessary data, the study used an experimental research design. The weighted mean, standard deviation, and standard
t-test were applied to the study's problem statement. According to the results, there was a substantial difference in the
learners' Body Mass Index (BMI) before and after being exposed to the feeding program. The Body Mass Index (BMI)
and academic achievement of the study's participants had no discernible association. Therefore, this suggested that
there were other factors that affected the academic performance of the learners other than the Body Mass Index (BMI).
It was important also to note that a weak positive correlation may still exist, but it was not strong enough to be
statistically significant. It was recommended to continue the conduct of the feeding program and plan even more meals
that were nutritious for learners who were subjected to school feeding. The school administration should continue to
look forward to potential sponsors that would help the school in sustaining the feeding program. This research showed
the effectiveness of the feeding program in the nutritional status of the learners but not in the academic performance
of the learners.
Keywords: body mass index, academic performance, school-based feeding program, nutritional status

Introduction
In many parts of the world, School - Based Feeding program (SBFP) has been used with the belief that education and SBFPs also serve
as a platform for other human development outcomes, such as reducing hunger, aiding in the development of children, improving the
nutritional status and promote good health in the Philippines.
High-quality education is crucial for economy, political, and social advancement. Currently, enrolling children in schools is insufficient.
The government must make sure that everyone is catered. Children learn the core skills and knowledge needed for personal fulfillment.
It is vital for a child to develop their consciousness and personality while in primary school. Nutrition is a crucial component of human
health. The development of life and the brain across a lifetime. A balanced diet is crucial for stamina, physical development, mental
growth, and productivity. Malnutrition is seen as a serious problem as well. This hinders children's ability to learn and lowers their
academic achievement. Undernutrition is a serious public health problem that has an impact on student’s academic performance in
schools. Students at Tagpaco Elementary School suffer from child malnutrition in the classroom. According to science, bad nutrition
affected how well the students learn.
Deped Order No. 031, S. 2021's operational guidelines for implementing the school-based feeding program was circulated and should
be observed by all schools. The goal of the school-based feeding program is to return severely wasted and wasted recipients to a normal
nutritious body mass index. The program should improve both the academic achievement and the health and nutritional status of
students. The School-Based Feeding Program began tackling undernutrition among public primary students as it evolved through time,
shifting its emphasis from alleviating temporary hunger. In many parts of the world, School-Based Feeding Programs (SBFPs) have
been implemented in the hope that education and SBFPs will also serve as a platform for other human development goals, such as
reducing hunger, assisting in children's development, improving nutritional status, and promoting good health in the Philippines.
Nutrition plays a vital role in education; in fact, the Department of Education has been one of the major implementing agencies in the
delivery of health-related services and programs. The Department has been using conditional food transfer programs to combat hunger
and nutrient deficiencies since 1997 (Lu & Dacal, 2020).
A school-based feeding program is one that instructed students in good eating practices and offered them extra food while they were
in class. Its goal was to enhance both the academic performance and nutritional status of school- aged children. These programs were
often sponsored by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or businesses. This helped to improve the nutritional status of children
and to support early childhood development because they are less widely known than their mass counterparts.
According to Olofin et al. (2013), it is clear that many of our student’s parents lack the financial means to buy adequate healthy meals
for the entire family. According to the nutritional status at year's end, there were still students who were wasting their education.
Malnutrition continued to be a danger on a global scale, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2016 by the International Food Policy
Research Institute. It continued to be severe. There has been little progress made toward meeting global goals. Operation Timbang
2021 (OPT) Plus was a yearly event that monitored the state of local nutrition. Every first quarter of the year, preschoolers aged 0-59
months were mass weighed to collect information on their nutritional health. OPT and results were the key databases of the local
government units (LGUs). This would identify how many were malnourished in their localities and who and where they were located.

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Research Article

Likewise, it showed trends in the progress of their battle against malnutrition.


Within this gloomy picture, there had been progress made in reducing stunting in children under five years of age – the core focus of
political commitment to nutrition for some years. Rates had been progressively reducing, with the prevalence on a global scale dropping
from 32.6% in 2000 to 22.2% in 2017. For instance, stunting had decreased since 2000 in Nepal from 57.1% to 36.0% and in Lesotho
from 52.7% to 33.4%. In terms of regional declines, Latin America and the Caribbean went from 16.9% to 9.6%, Asia went from 38.1%
to 23.2%, and Africa went from 38.3% to 30.3%. The number of stunted children have progressively climbed from 50.6 million in
2000 to 58.7 million in 2017, despite a decline in the prevalence of stunting across Africa. Regionally, South Asia was home to 38.9%
of the world’s stunted children, having the highest burden of the regions.
Malnutrition is a widespread issue on a local, regional, national, and international scale. Malnutrition was a problem that must be solved
by everyone, not just government employees and non-governmental organizations. The best way to combat malnutrition was to tackle
it locally, even going as far as providing institutional care for malnourished children. The Tagpaco Elementary School is working to
end malnutrition. As a result, this research was created.
Research Questions
The study aimed to determine the effects of school-based feeding program on the Body Mass Index (BMI) and the academic
performance of the learners of Tagpaco Elementary School for the School Year 2022 - 2023. Specifically, this study sought to answer
the following questions:
1. What is the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the learners before and after the feeding program?
2. What is the academic performance of the learners before and after the feeding program?
3. Is there a significant difference on the Body Mass index of the learners before and after the feeding program?
4. Is there a significant difference between the Body Mass Index of the learners after the feeding program and their academic
performance?
5. What action plan can be designed based on the findings of this study?

Methodology
Research Design
This study made use of Descriptive Evaluative Design. The descriptive evaluative design utilized a variety of qualitative and
quantitative data collection and analysis methods. The study design can apply a range of assumptions, from positivist or interpretive
perspectives to critical theory and critical realism. These studies were used in both formative evaluations and summative evaluations.
Variables were only identified, observed, and measured in gathering essential data (McCombes, 2022).
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the 150 total learners from Kindergarten to Grade 6 levels officially enrolled in the present school
year at Tagpaco Elementary School. First, the researcher measured the Body Mass Index of all the learners using the automated Deped
forms. Part of the process would be the inputting of the birthday, height, weight, gender, and age of the learner. This automatically
computed their Body Mass Index. Also, the proponent classified the learners as wasted, severely wasted, and normal. After getting
their Body Mass Index, the respondents with a total of 59 were identified as wasted and severely wasted learners who served as the
beneficiaries of the feeding program.
The Department of Education helped to improve their nutritional status. The sampling procedure he used in this research was simple
random sampling. Accordingly, it was a trustworthy technique for gathering data in which every single person in a population was
randomly picked according to the result of their body mass index. He had already recognized the badly wasted, so they fed them
nutritious foods like nutriban in carrot, squash, and malunggay flavors. Additionally, they provided them with fresh milk from the
Department of Education, with funding supplied by the Misamis Oriental Division. They dropped it off at one of our drop-off locations
in Initao Central School, and then they picked up the bun and milk to give to our feeding beneficiaries from Initao CS feeding them for
60 days between November and December.
Table 1. Respondents of the Study

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Table 2. 60 Days of Food Intake

Instruments
The research instrument used in gathering the essential data for this study was a researcher-made questionnaire and an adapted
questionnaire. It consisted of the following information gathered, the learners’ Body Mass Index (BMI, before the feeding Program
and the learners’ Body Mass Index (BMI) after the feeding Program. Body Mass Index was calculated as weight in kilograms divided
by the square of height in meters. Learners’ academic performance was discussed with the learners to improve the feeding program
and academic performance.
The learner's respondent's academic achievement was specifically noted in the second instrument, which was a researcher's observation
of the respondent's first and second-quarter grades through School Form 9.
Table 3. DepEd Qualitative Description of Academic Performance

Procedure
The researcher submitted a letter to the Schools Division Superintendent of the Department of Education, Jonathan S. Dela Peña, Ph,
D. for approval to conduct the study. Upon approval, the researcher set the schedule for gathering the data of the respondents.
On the scheduled date, the researcher administered the questionnaire personally. The researcher did the retrieval of the instruments. It
took the researcher two hours to gather the data per grade level. The data were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted.
The interview was conducted within the TLE laboratory to avoid interference in the recording and to provide an environment conducive
for questioning and truthful responses.
Data Analysis
Data were tabulated and interpreted to acquire the needed actual information. This was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS) software of an accredited statistician.
Problems 1 and 2 gathered learners’ Body Mass Index BMI before and after the feeding program. It used of frequency count, percentage
mean, and standard deviation statistical analysis and presentation of results.

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Problems 3 and 4 made use of paired t-tests to test whether the Nutritional Status and BMI of the respondents after the feeding program
were greater than the nutritional Status and BMI of the respondents before the feeding program.
Problem 5 utilized Spearman-rank Correlation to test the relationship between the BMI after feeding and academic performance.
Results and Discussion
This section presents the results and discussions of the data gathered in the study. These results are presented in tabular and graphical
forms for convenient analyses and interpretation to give clear discussions of the answers to the problem of this study based on the
statement of the problems focusing the respondents’ Nutritional status and academic performance.
Problem 1: What is the nutritional status based on the body mass index (BMI) of the learners before and after the feeding
program?
Table 4. Nutritional of the Learners Before and After the Feeding Program

Table 4 presents the nutritional status of the learners before and after the feeding program. For the kindergarten level, before the feeding
program, the majority of learners (72%) were either severely wasted or wasted. After the feeding program, the percentage of severely
wasted and wasted learners decreased, while the percentage of learners with a normal BMI increased.
The majority of Grade 1 learners had a normal BMI both before and after the feeding program. The percentage of wasted students did
somewhat increase following the feeding program, though, which would mean that some students in this grade level did not benefit
from it as much as others.
Nearly two-thirds of Grade 2 students were either extremely wasted or wasted, according to the assessment. Following the feeding
program, there was a considerable decrease in the proportion of severely wasted and wasted students, while an increase in the proportion
of students with a normal BMI. This indicated that the feeding program had a positive impact on the students in grade 2's nutritional
status.
For the Grade 3 level, around 57% of learners in Grade 3 had a normal BMI, while the rest were either severely wasted or wasted. After
the feeding program, the percentage of learners with a normal BMI increased to 60.9%, and the percentage of severely wasted learners
decreased. However, there was no significant change in the percentage of wasted learners, which may suggest that some learners in
this grade level did not benefit as much from the feeding program as others.
For the Grade 4 level, the majority of learners in Grade 4 had a normal BMI, and this remained the same after the feeding program.
However, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of wasted learners. The finding suggested that some learners in this grade level
did benefit from the feeding program.
For the Grade 5 level, all learners in Grade 5 had a normal BMI before and after the feeding program, which suggested that the feeding

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program was not needed for this group of learners.


For the Grade 6 level, a sizable portion of students were either wasted or seriously wasted. Following the feeding program, the
proportion of very underweight students reached zero, while the proportion of students with a normal BMI rose. This indicated that the
feeding program had a positive impact on the students in grade 6's nutritional status.
According to Slowik (2019), nutritional status was a key determinant of school-age children's Body Mass Index (BMI) diagnosis. The
most prevalent and widely used technique for determining nutritional status was this one. Overall, the feeding program improved the
students' nutritional status, as shown by the decline in the proportion of severely wasted and wasted students and the rise in the
proportion of students with a normal BMI. The sample size for each grade level was, however, quite limited, which would limit how
broadly the findings can be applied. To ascertain the feeding program's overall performance and pinpoint any potential for
improvement, additional analysis was required.
Problem 2: What is the academic performance of the learners before and after the feeding program?
Table 5. Academic Performance of the Learners Before and After the Feeding Program

Note: *excluded the Kindergarten sample for having no numerical grades

Table presents the academic performance of learners before and after the feeding program by grade level. In Kindergarten, all 25
students were at the beginning performance level before the feeding program. However, after the program, 12 students (48.0%)
improved to the developing level while the remaining 13 students (52.0%) stayed at the beginning level.
For Grade 1, before the feeding program, 10 students (50.0%) were at a very satisfactory level, 3 students (15.0%) were at a satisfactory
level, and 7 students (35.0%) were at a fairly satisfactory level. After the program, 11 students (55.0%) improved to the very satisfactory
level, 2 students (10.0%) were in the satisfactory level, 1 student (5.0%) was in the fairly satisfactory level, and 6 students (30.0%)
moved to the “Needs improvement” level. Before the feeding program, in Grade 2, there were 6 students (28.6%) who performed at a
very excellent level, 9 students (42.9%), who performed satisfactorily, and 6 students (28.6%), who performed pretty satisfactorily.
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Following the training, eight students (38.1%) advanced to the very satisfactory level, seven (33.3%) reached the satisfactory level,
five (23.8%) reached the reasonably satisfactory level, and one (4.8%) moved to the "Needs Improvement" level.
Prior to the feeding program, in Grade 3, 1 student (4.3%) performed at an outstanding level, 3 students (13.0%) performed at a very
satisfactory level, 10 students (43.5%) performed at a satisfactory level, 8 students (34.8%) performed at a fairly satisfactory level, and
1 student (4.3%) performed at a "Needs Improvement" level. There was no change in the proportion of students at the outstanding level
after the program, while there were 4 students (17.4%) at the very satisfactory level, 10 students (43.5%) at the satisfactory level, 7
students (30.4%) at the fairly satisfactory level, and 1 student (4.3%), who needed improvement.
For Grade 4, before the feeding program, 3 students (11.1%) were in the very satisfactory level, 16 students (59.3%) were in the
satisfactory level, and 8 students (29.6%) were in the fairly satisfactory level. After the program, 5 students (18.5%) were in the very
satisfactory level, 17 students (63.0%) were in the satisfactory level, and 5 students (18.5%) were in the fairly satisfactory level.
Prior to the feeding program, there were 10 students in Grade 5 who scored quite satisfactorily (43.5%), 6 students who scored very
satisfactorily (26.1%), and 7 students who scored satisfactorily (30.4%). Following the program, 7 students (30.4%), 7 students
(30.4%), and 9 students (39.1%) were, respectively, performing at very satisfactory, satisfactory, and reasonably satisfactory levels.
In Grade 6, three kids (25.0%) were performing at a very satisfactory level, six children (50.0%) were doing satisfactorily, and three
students (25.0%) were performing reasonably satisfactorily. 4 students (33.3%) and 7 students (58.3%) were at very satisfactory levels
and satisfactory levels, respectively, after the program.
Looking at the total measure, there were 126 learners who were part of the feeding program. The results showed that before the program,
42 learners (33.3%) were in the Fairly Satisfactory range, which suggested that they were partly struggling academically. After the
feeding program, this number decreased to 28 learners (22.2%), indicating an improvement in their academic performance.
In terms of the grade distribution, there were only few learners who scored in the Outstanding range (90-100) before and after the
program. However, there was a significant increase in the number of learners who scored in the Very Satisfactory range (85-89), from
31 (24.6%) to 39 (31%). This suggested that the feeding program had a positive impact on the learners' academic performance,
particularly in this range.
Before and after the program, there were 51 students (40.5% before) and 50 students (39.7% after) who had scores in the Satisfactory
range (80–84). This implied that students who were already performing satisfactorily may not have been much impacted by the feeding
program.
It was interesting to note that after the program, there was a drop in the percentage of students scoring in the Fairly Satisfactory range
(75-79) from 42 (33.3%) to 28 (22.2%). This may indicate that students who were having academic difficulties but were still in the
Fairly Satisfactory level benefited from the feeding program.
Prangthip (2018) argued that while many variables affected a child's educational achievements, a child's health and nutritional state
were likely variables that frequently affected academic achievement. The feeding program had a favorable overall effect on the
student’s academic performance, especially for those who scored in the Very Satisfactory and Fairly Satisfactory areas. It was
significant to observe that only a small number of students had scores in the Outstanding range both before and after the program,
which may indicate that other issues needed to be addressed in order to boost these students' academic performance.
Problem 3: Is there a significant difference in the Body Mass Index of the learners before and after the feeding program?
Table 6. Difference in the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the Learners Before and
After the Feeding Program

Note: Analysis is based on Paired T-test *p<.05

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Table 6 shows the results of a paired t-test conducted to determine the effect of a feeding program on the body mass index (BMI) of
learners before and after the program. The results were presented by grade level, and a total value was provided at the end. The t-value
was a measure of the difference between the means of the pre-and post-BMI scores, while the p-value indicated the probability of
obtaining the observed t-value by chance. The level of significance used was p<.05, meaning that if the p-value is less than .05, the
difference was considered statistically significant, and if it was greater than .05, the difference was not significant.
Looking at the results, the feeding program did not seem to have a significant effect on the BMI of learners, as only one grade level
(Grade 3) showed a significant difference in BMI before and after the program, with a p- value of .015.
For Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 5, and Grade 6, the p-values were all greater than .05, indicating that the differences
in BMI before and after the program were not significant.
It was worth noting that even though the differences in BMI before and after the program were not statistically significant for most
grade levels, there was a trend towards an increase in BMI for all grades, except Grade 5, which showed a slight decrease in BMI.
The partial 2 value represented the magnitude of the feeding program's impact on BMI; a higher value represented a bigger impact. All
grade levels had small impact sizes, with Grade 3 having the biggest effect size at.242. Although the feeding program did not appear
to have a significant impact on students' BMI, the findings suggested that additional research may be required to determine why there
was a trend towards an increase in BMI, especially for grades where the effect size was relatively large, like Grade 3. Between pre-
feeding and post- feeding, there was a considerable difference in the beneficiaries' nutritional condition.
This would suggest that healthy eating habits aren't promoted at home, according to Naelga (2019). This implied that parental or
guardian involvement in school meal programs had had an indirect impact on pupils' nutritional condition. This suggested that parents
and guardians should focus more on their children's nutritional needs by modeling healthy eating habits and cooking nutritious meals
at home.
Problem 4: Is there a significant difference in the academic performance of the learners before and after the feeding program?
Table 7. Difference in the Academic Performance of the Learners Before and
After the Feeding Program

Note: Analysis is based on Paired T-test *p<.05 **p<.01

Table 7 shows the results of a paired t-test conducted to determine the effect of a feeding program on the academic performance of
learners before and after the program. The results were presented by grade level, and a total value was provided at the end. The t-value
was a measure of the difference between the means of the pre-and post-academic performance scores, while the p-value indicated the
probability of obtaining the observed t-value by chance. The level of significance used was p<.05, meaning that if the p-value was less
than .05, the difference was considered statistically significant, and if it was greater than .05, the difference was not significant.
Looking at the results, the feeding program appeared to have a significant effect on the academic performance of learners, as four out
of the six grade levels showed a significant difference in academic performance before and after the program, with p-values less than
.05.
For Grade 1 and Grade 2, the p-values were both greater than .05, indicating that the differences in academic performance before and
after the program were not significant.
For Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, and Grade 6, the p-values were less than .05, indicating that the differences in academic performance
before and after the program were significant. The effect sizes for these grades were moderate to large, with Grade 4 showing the
largest effect size of .362.
The partial η2 value indicated the effect size of the feeding program on academic performance, with a larger value indicating a greater
effect. The effects sizes for all grade levels were small to moderate, with Grade 4, Grade 5, and Grade 6 showing the largest effect
sizes. The total value showed that the feeding program did not have a significant effect on the academic performance of all learners,
with a p-value greater than .05.

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Thus, it appeared that the feeding program had a considerable impact on students' academic performance at some grade levels,
especially in Grades 3, 4, and 5, where the effect sizes were moderate to large. The findings suggested that older students or students
who were already performing at a higher level would benefit more from the feeding program.
According to Bansal (2017), pupils needed a healthy diet in order to reach their maximum academic potential. Children should be
encouraged to adopt healthy food practices and lifestyles to maintain a healthy normal body weight, which would eventually improve
their academic performance, as well as interventions like the School-Based Feeding Program, to improve the nutritional status and
enhance the academic performance of the students.
Problem 5: Is there a significant relationship between the Body Mass Index of the learners after the feeding program and their
academic performance?
Table 8. Relationship between the Body Mass Index (BMI) and the Academic
Performance of the Learners

Note: Analysis is based on Spearman-rank Correlation not significant (p>.05)

The Spearman-rank correlation analysis in Table 8 examines the relationship between the Body Mass Index (BMI) and the academic
performance of the learners. The results showed that there was a weak positive correlation between the two variables, as indicated by
the Spearman r-value of 0.129. However, the p-value of 0.149 indicated that this correlation was not statistically significant at the 0.05
level.
The implication of these results was that there was no significant relationship between BMI and academic performance among the
learners in this study. This suggested that factors other than BMI may be more important in predicting academic performance. It was
also important to note that a weak positive correlation may still exist, but it was not strong enough to be statistically significant.
According to Wang (2020), inadequate nutrition was one of the main reasons for the low academic performance and productivity in
primary education, which may have an impact on children's physical and cognitive development in their formative years. Additionally,
kids who were badly wasted and wasted had poor academic performance, which was directly related to their nutrient intake deficiencies.
Conclusions
Some inferences may be drawn from the study's results and analysis. The proponent together with the teachers felt that they have made
a positive contribution to their understanding of both programmatic remedies and the causes of childhood malnutrition. Consequently,
even though the program's results were encouraging and comparable to those of prior research. The more in-depth analysis would be
necessary to confirm the variables affecting children's nutritional health, ideally through randomized trials. It was now appropriate to
study recently discovered facts and reevaluated existing programmatic activities in order to promote good feeding practices, improve
nutritional status, and increase kids' academic achievement. The lives of the numerous malnourished youngsters in the world wouldonly
be improved after that.
As postulated under the theory of hierarchy of needs by Abraham Maslow Food was essential because it helped the body grow, protect,
and heal. Children required food in the proper quantity and quality. The performance of children was greatly impacted by hunger and
its consequences on brain growth. More undernourished children compared to children who have access to a healthy diet, were exposed
to mental distress and illness infections. This subsequently contributed to their reduced capacity to learn. Similarly, the findings of this
study provided some evidence of McKenzie linking health and learning. Results suggested that understanding the facts was essential
to making the argument in favor of promoting physical education and good eating in schools. There were a number of probable direct
and indirect paths connecting a healthy diet and regular exercise to academic success in schools.
Furthermore, these findings suggested that there was no connection between BMI and academic achievement among the study
participants. This implied that variables besides BMI might be more crucial in predicting academic performance. It was also crucial to
keep in mind that although there may still be a slight positive association, it was not statistically significant.
As a result, this study's findings analyzed the connections between respondents' academic achievement and their nutritional state while
also comparing how well respondents were doing academically.
Based on the results of the study presented, which investigated the effect of a feeding program on the nutritional status and academic
performance of learners in a certain area, the following recommendations are provided:
Despite the lack of a significant correlation between BMI and academic performance, the feeding program should continue to be
implemented as it could help improve the nutritional status of the learners. Nutritious meals can enhance physical and cognitive
development, and this could have long-term benefits in terms of health and academic performance.

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It is advised that more research be done to determine the effects of other factors, such as home environment, family support, and
socioeconomic status, on academic success. The variations in students' academic achievement may be explained by these factors.
The feeding program could be enhanced by involving parents and the community in the planning and implementation process. This
might foster a feeling of ownership and raise the prospect of sustainability. Activities that encourage good eating habits and offer
nutrition education may also be part of the curriculum.
There should be a comprehensive system for monitoring and evaluating the feeding program. This could include regular assessments
of the nutritional status and academic performance of the learners, as well as feedback from parents and teachers. The program could
also be evaluated based on its cost-effectiveness and sustainability.
Collaboration with other agencies, such as health departments, social welfare organizations, and local government units, could help
address other issues that affect academic performance, such as health, hygiene, and sanitation. This could provide a holistic approach
to improving the well-being of learners and their academic performance.
This study about the impact of a school-based feeding program on students' nutritional status and academic performance may be
replicated in future studies. In order to compare the results of a school-based feeding program, at least two schools may be used as the
research setting.
Overall, the feeding program is a good idea that could help the students' health and nutrition. However, it is crucial to understand that
a range of factors, including collaboration between various stakeholders, have an impact on academic success, and that these issues
must be addressed.
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Affiliations and Corresponding Information
Karl Vincent D. Macarandan
Pontacon Elementary School
Department of Education – Philippines
Omar Q. Hussien, PhD
St. Peter’s College – Philippines

Macarandan & Hussien 905/905

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