Schoolchildren served with dry noodles as 'healthy set meal'

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A primary school in central China's Henan Province is facing online backlash after it was reported to have only served its students half a bowl of dry noodles as students' "healthy set meals" – way below the nutritional standard set by local education department.

According to a video released on China's Twitter-equivalent Weibo platform on Wednesday, students were seen waiting in line and were each given around half a bowl of dry noodles from a canteen worker, who was grabbing noodles from what appeared to be a massive serving bowl.

A Weibo user posted a video showing a local primary school in Henan Province serves dry noodles as "healthy set meals" to students. /Screenshot via Weibo

"It's critical time for students to grow physical strength. Can you see what they are serving them?" Weibo user @haitaode reported while shooting inside the school cafeteria. "There's no vegetable in sight. Not to mention meat."

The video also filmed the canteen bulletin board, on which it showed a daily menu specified by the education department. The daily healthy meal set for Wednesday should contain chicken, vegetables and porridge, which was apparently not followed by the school.

Students are seen eating bowls of noodles for lunch. /Screenshot via Weibo

The school was later identified to be a town-level primary school in Henan's Shangshui County, Chinese media outlet The Paper reports. The county's education department on Thursday responded by dispatching an investigation team to the school and confirmed that the school failed to abide by the nutrition guidelines set by the department.

After initial investigation, the education department decided to remove the school principle from its post and to sack a nutrition expert supervising the school.

A food catering company is still under investigation. Since 2015, the primary school has outsourced its cafeteria to the company which was responsible for producing and delivering nutrient meals to multiple primary and secondary schools in Shangshui County, a local food supplier told Beijing News.

Having a balanced, nutritious meal is vitally important for schoolchildren to build both physical and mental strength. Back in 2011, to improve the health conditions of students living in rural China, the country launched a large-scale plan with a budget over 16 billion yuan (2.3 billion US dollars) to ensure underprivileged children could enjoy free, healthy meals.