Low weight and other diet-related conditions are rising among students of Chancellor College, officers at the institution have said.
Our findings show that most students are living on orange squash and bread to keep them going on a meagre monthly budget of between K22 500 (about $22) and K32 000 (about $80) per student they receive from the college.
Head of Chancellor College Health Unit, Lucius Kalonga, said on Tuesday while the health facility has not done tests to establish cases of malnourishment, students examined so far have experienced an acute loss of weight from apparent starvation.
He said judging by the Body Mass Index (BMI) of those examined, he discovered a lack of food supplements their bodies need.
“We have been giving food supplements and multivitamins to some of the students to boost their weight. We have also been advising them on recommended diets to take.
“While the percentage of those treated seems micro, the situation could be larger because not everyone affected was treated at the unit. It is a cause for alarm and an eye opener. Something needs to be done immediately,” said Kalonga.
He attributed the problem to the policy of outsourcing catering services the university has implemented.
Under the system, colleges under the university provide money for students to look for food on their own.
Kalonga said students are missing out on essential nutrition either because they cannot afford the rates at the college’s commercialised cafeteria and opt for cheaper alternatives in surrounding locations or are saving in order to make ends meet.
“The sources of food are sometimes compromised as it is prepared by vendors in open markets. At times, students opt for junk food which causes diarrhoea. We treat such cases just as our records show,” he said.
He said the most affected are girls between the ages of 16 and 20 years.
Kalonga said management of the college gave him the task of finding a way forward on the matter.
President of Students Union of Chancellor College (Succ), Israel Masiano, said he is aware that many students are suffering from diet-related diseases.
Masiano said the number of students affected by the food conditions has increased from 76 in January to 190 at the moment.
“As time goes by, the situation might be different. Students are surviving on orange squash and bread and go anywhere with cheaper alternatives.
“The situation is worse for students staying off campus. While we all get a K32 000 [$80] meal allowance, they get K40 000 [$100] to include accommodation. Once they take away the accommodation, the meal allowance decreases,” he said.
He said breakfast at the college cafeteria costs K300 [about 75 cents] while lunch and dinner are at K550 [about $1.37] each.
A manager at the college, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the situation as ‘difficult’ because it is not easy to monitor students, particularly non-residential ones.
“We can only advise them to properly manage their resources, take enough nutrients and eat healthy. However, we should not jump to the conclusion that the loss of weight is emanating from lack of food,” he said.
He said 2 350 students use the outsourced system.
Senior assistant registrar Elias Chizimba refused to comment on the issue.
