School Lunch Program in Thailand

by Rina Chomawati - December 31, 2024

With the School Principal and Staff

Learning about food and nutrition always reminds me of the timeless wisdom of Hippocrates: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Foods have a pivotal role, not only in nourishing our bodies but also in preventing and treating diseases. That second day of the conference, many keynote speakers presented their research, but Kentaro Murakami sensei's materials (UTokyo) enchanted me regarding the characteristics of Japanese dishes. It was best practice that we could adopt according to the local context. In Japan, meal skipping is rare, and snack frequency is low. Furthermore, meal times have a clear peak in timing (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Eating the "Shokuiku" way leads to high scores for minimally processed food in dishes. They tend to eat whole fruits, vegetables, green beans, seafood, and plant protein. While added sugar and saturated fat are low.

Alongside the oral presentation, on November 13, 2024, the third day (last day), I had the opportunity to participate in a school visit as part of the conference's sub-program (story about the conference since day one attached in the following post). The school visit team, followed by five countries, I am the only participant from Indonesia, the others come from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Australia. This activity provided learning about the school's meal planning, the collaboration between nutritionists and public health officers, and the special education program.

Piboon Prachasan School is a public school that is a role model for other state schools in Thailand. Each student receives 30 baht/meal, given by the government for around 1000 students. There are four categorized schools here:

Kindergarten
Primary and secondary schools
Football player school
Special education school (for students with exceptional conditions, such as autism)

Each grade has its own meal plan and nutritional pattern. Nutritionists cooperate with public health workers in primary care to monitor children (both underweight and overweight) after anthropometric measurements. They also conduct frequent monitoring assessments of food booths outside the school. Parents are given food and nutrition instruction about meal preparation at home twice a year.

Unlike kindergarten children, who get school-provided meals, primary and secondary school students have access to meals during break time based on their interests. The school provides opportunities for third-party vendors to set up student food stalls. Student payment works as follows: when students come to school and pass through the scanning system (also used for attendance), they are immediately charged a 30 baht lunch per student. When lunchtime arrives, they use student pay as a payment method, and the food selection is personalized to the students' preferences.

One of the categorized classes in Piboon Prachasan School is for inclusive education, often known as special education in Thailand. This class's activities are fairly diversified; to maximize their physical motor and cognitive abilities, a cafe is provided, complete with waiters and kitchen personnel who are themselves.

Kindergarten students are welcome to plan their own meal plan for the upcoming week, following the menu card that has been provided by teachers.

Classrooms are provided with folding mattresses for naps.

Pre-school students (3 - 4 yo) and Kindergarten students (5 yo). After the aprons distributed, they are going to wash both hands and feet. They queued up neatly while the teachers distributed plates and offered a side dish choice for each student.

The school visit team had the opportunity to have cocktail ice served by the special education students in their cafe. I feel pleased to witness inclusive students being empowered. :)