An interventional study about food habits of school going adolescents at Guttigar PHC of Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Adolescence represents an important stage for the development of healthy nutrition behaviors. Inadequate diet during adolescence period can result in decreased learning ability, delayed sexual maturity, iron deficiency anemia, lack of concentration, impaired school performance and slow growth. Objectives: 1. To study the nutritional status of rural adolescents. 2. To educate the general public regarding commonest illness causing malnutrition and some habits like (smoking, alcohol, chewing tobacco) causing malnutrition. Methods: The study sample of about 100 adolescents, between the ages 12-18 years of both the sexes were selected randomly for the study which was conducted in the rural primary health care centre Guttigar, Sullia Taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka in the month of April -June 2014 when come to PHC as OPD attendant, patient’s attendant and some surrounding locality adolescents. The study variables include bio-data and food habit questionnaires. Results: From the results, by using Wilcoxon test it was found that there was a significant association was found between before and after intervention scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: The showed a good improvement in the food habit of adolescents after intervention. Therefore conducting nutrition education will help to improve the food habit as well as nutritional status of the study subjects.

Keywords

• adolescents
• food habits
• intervention-rural area