Assessment of Nutrients Consumption among Adolescent Girls at a Field Practicing Area of a Medical College

Abstract

Introduction: Poor nutrition or low intake of major nutrients like protein, vitamin C, iron, and energy is a vast challenge among adolescents. Very few girls take amount of nutrients as per the standards i.e. recommended daily allowance. It is mainly due to lack of awareness, eating practices, and sociocultural factors of family. Hence, the study was designed to improve nutrients intake and to determine the post intervention change in nutrients intake of adolescent girls. Methodology: Baseline level of daily nutrients intake was assessed using food frequency questionnaire and “Diet Soft” software. Intensive nutrition and health education was imparted weekly for a period of six months among 123 adolescent girls of randomly selected Anganwadi centre and compared with control group. Results: Mean consumption of nutrients increased from 65% to 76% of recommended daily allowance for calorie, from 67% to 79% for protein, from 65% to 73% for iron and from 57% to 67% for vitamin C after intervention. Mean protein consumption in intervention group increased significantly from 36.26 gm to 38.48 gm. Conclusion: Mean energy and protein consumption increased significantly from 1644 to 1811 kilocalories and from 36.26 to 38.48 gm respectively. There was a significant improvement in iron and vitamin C intake also.

Keywords

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