Impact of mid day meal program on educational and nutritional status of school children in Karnataka.

Objective: To assess the effect of the Mid Day Meal (MDM) Program on enrolment, attendance, dropout rate and retention rate in the schools and its impact on nutritional status as well as on school performance. Design: Comparison by multistage random sampling. Subjects: Primary school children, who are attending the school in the MDM and non-MDM areas. Results: A total of 2,694 children (MDM: 1361; Non-MDM : 1333) from 60 schools were covered in the study. Results of the study indicated better enrolment (p <0.05) and attendance (p <0.001), higher retention rate with reduced dropout rate (p <0.001) a marginally higher scholastic performance and marginally higher growth performance of MDM children. Conclusion: MDM program is associated with a better educational and nutritional status of school children in Karnataka.