A study to assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers regarding the significance and implementation of food at midday meal program at selected schools of gokak taluk, with a view to provide information guide sheet

The school health service is one of the aspects of community health nursing, it refers to providing need based comprehensive services to pupils to promote and protect their health, control diseases and maintain their health. Education plays a vital role in development of the human potential. The Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Program is just what the name implies-providing cooked meals in schools. The idea is simple; the impact significant. This study is intended to assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers regarding significance and implementation of midday meal program at Gokak taluk. The objectives are to assess knowledge, attitude and associate them with selected demographic characteristics of teachers. Research approach was used is descriptive approach which is a non-experimental design. The target population for the study were selected from teachers of Government Primary Schools, Gokak taluk, Belgaum district, Karnataka.The data collection was made through semi structured questionnaire and 5 point likert’s attitude scale which was designed to assess the knowledge and attitude of primary school teachers regarding significance and implementation of mid- day meal program. The results were described by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The respondent’s mean knowledge score was 54.22% in genesis and current status of mid-day meal program, 59.0% in nutritional aspect, 54.0% in budget and maintenance, 67.5% in prevention of food borne diseases and the overall mean knowledge was 58.66%. The respondent’s mean attitude score was 61.34% in positive statements and 66.13% in negative statements and the overall mean attitude score was 63.5%. The demographic variables analysed in this study, age, educational status, experience, income, source of information and in service education were found to have significant association with knowledge and attitude scores. There was no significant association between religion, sex, type of family, marital status and type of diet with knowledge and attitude scores. The overall findings of the study clearly showed that the primary school teachers had moderate knowledge score (58.66%) and positive attitude (63.5%). It reveals that, if the teachers are  provided with some sort of educational interventions such as information booklets, teaching programs, modules on mid day meal program will definitely update their knowledge and develops positive attitude towards mid day meal program, which in turn contribute to improve the total quality of one’s health.