Abstract:
In Sri Lanka as other developing countries, malnutrition is one of the major public
heath problem affecting specially to the children. Many supplementary feeding
programs carried out by the Department of Health and other nongovernment
authorities to reduce the malnutrition among vulnerable groups.
But Impact assessment of supplementary feeding programs are not evaluated by any
one or any organization yet. The survey was carried out to identify, the effectiveness
o f the supplementary feeding programs among vulnerable groups.
The objectives of the survey were to determine the composition of the supplementary
food, Determine the current nutritional status of the children in the particular area and
determine the effect o f supplementary food on improvement of nutritional status.
To determine the composition of the supplementary food, chemical analysis was
carried out and find out the % of protein, fat, moisture, ash and crude fibre content.
In general, evaluation of the impact of supplementary food on the nutritional status of
vulnerable groups will focus establishing whether or not the population malnourished
individual has decreased within specific time period.
Malnutrition being defined by the any one of the following three indicators singly or
in combination. They are. Weight for age (under weight), height for age(stunting),
weight for height (wasting)
In identifying the nutritional status it has been the recent practice to use the method
suggested by WHO, i.e. z-scores and NCHS reference standards. So the survey was
carried out using the NCSH standards.
Before starting the feeding program, detecting the nutritional status of children (3 to 5
year) in the area was done. Then they were divided into two groups and one was led
with the supplementaly food while other was not fed. Height and weight
measurements were collected by fortnightly. After four months, populations were
compared using statistical method.
