Chinese schools use advanced technological platforms to offer free nutritive lunch to students in rural areas

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Over 40 percent of the Chinese population live in rural areas. Many people live in remote villages with a drastically declining population, as young people emigrate to towns and cities. Those who are left behind have to face the hardships associated with the ever-greater lack of basic services; the low pay and tough conditions mean that skilled workers look for opportunities elsewhere. This results in villages becoming more isolated, as nearby shops, healthcare centers, and of course schools, shut down. From a very young age, Chinese children living in those areas must make long and often dangerous journeys to and from school while their parents work away from home.

A couple of years ago, many of those students would have had to make it through the day on a small breakfast. Long distances meant that they were unable to walk back home at lunchtime and would have to wait until late evening for their second and last meal of the day. Their diets very often consisted solely of staple foods such as potatoes and rice. Poor nutrition hindered the children’s physical and mental development and made it more difficult for them to concentrate on school tasks.

However, according to People's Daily the situation has been improving. In the last years, the Chinese government has made increasing efforts to tackle the problems faced by villagers in remote areas, from building better and safer access routes to increasing financing for schools and developing special programs, such as the nutrition improvement program for rural students in compulsory education. Under this program schools receive financing for building school cafeterias and providing a free, nutritional lunch to students every day.  

Students are having meals at a primary school at a relocation site for poverty alleviation in Kaiyang county, Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou province, May 2022. The county offers free meals for students. Each meal includes three dishes and a bowl of soup, as well as a fruit or a cup of milk. (Photo by Yuan Fuhong/People's Daily Online)

The students’ health has improved significantly since the introduction of the nutrition improvement program. According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been monitoring the students’ development; between 2012 and 2021 average height has increased by over 4 centimeters while weight has increased by over 3 kilograms. The percentage of students suffering from delayed growth has decreased from 5.5 to 2.5 percent.

Some schools have decided to take a step further in improving their students’ nutrition. Qiubei county, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan province, has created a digital management platform for the school cafeteria. It tracks all related processes, including the verification of suppliers, food safety, purchase, and financial management. However, this platform is only the beginning of a more digitally advanced system for nutrition management as local authorities are working tirelessly on the implementation of electronic scales, facial recognition, pesticide residue monitoring devices, sensor deployment for the Internet of Things monitoring and Big Data analysis.

By launching training courses on the nutrition improvement program and developing an electronic dietitian system, the Ministry of Education and the National Health Commission have effectively improved primary-level personnel's capability in preparing nutritive diets.

The party head of a primary school in Shushan district, Hefei, east China's Anhui province has a meal together with students, March 2019.The primary school invites students' parents to "test" meals supplied at school to ensure food safety. (Photo by Ge Yinian/People's Daily Online)

The international community has applauded China’s nutritional initiative for rural students. According to the World Food Programme, which conducted a survey of nutrition in 169 countries, China is among the very few countries which offer free, nutritional meals to primary and secondary school students.

Source: People's Daily