Milk-and-Dairy-Products-in-Human-Nutrition-FAO

Chapter 7 – Milk and dairy programmes affecting nutrition 287
Other programmes identified focused on coverage estimates rather than
evaluating or comparing nutrition outcomes across programme intervention and
non-intervention schools (Habicht, Victora and Vaughan, 1999), and thus fall into
the category of adequacy inference only. A programme in Mongolia explicitly
highlighted the problem of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies among
primary-school children, emphasizing heightened vulnerabilities due to harsh winters
and remote areas (CFC, APHCAP and FAO, 2008). Children in a particularly
remote area of the Gobi Desert benefit from the Bayenlig Primary School milk
programme that supports a camel-herder group. Another programme in Teajam,
North Korea, similarly supports local goat milk production and processing (CFC,
APHCAP and FAO, 2008).
The National School Milk Programme in Thailand, administered by the Ministry
of Agriculture’s Livestock Bureau, was designed to build up the local dairy industry.
Initiated in 1983, the programme set out to create a demand among children by
establishing milk-consumption behaviour in school. A review of the programme
by the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, found that students in the programme
consumed more energy, protein, calcium and vitamin B 12 than the usual
diets provide, and that there was a suggested, unadjusted impact on height (Smitasiri
and Chotiboriboon, 2003). Another study conducted by the National Youth Bureau
and Department of Education, Kasetsart University, compared health and motor
activity outcomes among participating and non-participating children in Bangkok
schools and found that children receiving milk were taller than those attending
non-programme schools, but found no differences in motor fitness (Smitasiri and
Chotiboriboon, 2003).
7.4.3 Summary
School-based milk programmes are common in many parts of the world and enjoy
growing popularity among governments and the school community in countries
that have ready access to dairy commodities from national production. There
appears to be widespread consensus on the nutritional value of milk for schoolage
children. A survey by FAO in 1998 found that three-quarters of responding
countries promote milk in schools through a variety of methods such as education
and milk campaigns (Griffin, 2004). These findings and others suggest receptivity
to school-based milk programming specifically aimed at improving nutrition. Of
the six school-based milk programmes or studies reviewed, three were classified
as adequacy level of inference and three as plausibility. The studies in China and
Kenya, which had the strongest designs, demonstrated important impacts of school
feeding on linear growth (Du et al., 2004; Neumann et al., 2007), body composition
(Neumann et al., 2007) and micronutrient status (Du et al., 2004). A large school
programme in Viet Nam suggested some potential for impact on growth, but was
not able to differentiate the effect of milk from a wheat flour biscuit also provided
by the programme (Hall et al., 2007). Another potential opportunity associated
with school milk programmes evident in this review is the support provided to local
dairy industry (FAO, 2011). This may further ensure governmental and industry
support to the programmes.
Some challenges lie ahead for school-based milk programming. In view of the
growing problem of obesity, consideration should be given to the kinds of milk