Impact of drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) supplement on the anthropometric and biochemical status of school children

Abstract

The study entitled “Impact of drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) supplement on the nutritional status of school children” was conducted at the Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. The major objective was to study the impact of drumstick (Moringa oleifera Lam.) supplement on the nutritional status of primary school children. Moringa soup supplement which was formulated provided at the rate of 15 g / child / day to experimental group for sixty days for impact study. Dietary surveys revealed an absolutely ill balanced diet with an uniform pattern comprising of rice and fish. Nutritional status revealed that 66.6 percent children were below the standard weight and 50 percent children were below the standard height for their age. Data on height for age profile, weight for age, mid upper arm circumference ratio and blood haemoglobin indicated favourable progress in the case of children belonging to experimental group. Meanwhile in the control group there was no variation. An assessment of anthropometric measurements of the children of experimental group indicated a significant increase when compared with the control group. Hence, it can be concluded that the Moringa oleifera based supplementary food tried in the above feeding trial is found to be a suitable one for popularizing as a supplementary food for the children and it is recommended to provide in the mid - day meal programme for improving their health status.