Effect of Designed Nursing Program regarding Junk Food on School-Age Children's Awareness and Their Growth

Abstract

In today's world, junk food is widely consumed, and its negative effects cannot be ignored. Due to the lack of vitamins, minerals, and trace amounts of energy and protein in junk food, there is likelihood that the child will feel full and lose interest in eating nutritious foods. The aim was to determine the effect of a designed nursing program regarding junk food on school-age children's awareness and their growth. Subjects and method: Design: This study's objective was accomplished using a quasi-experimental research design. Setting: The study was carried out at Sohag University Hospital's Medical Pediatric Outpatients Clinic. Subjects: In this study, a purposeful sample of 100 school-age children was used. Tools for data collection: A structured interview questionnaire which consisted of five parts; part (I) demographic characteristics of the school-age children; part (II) school-age children's knowledge regarding junk food (pre/post), part (III) school-age children 'attitude regarding junk food (pre/post), part (IV) school-age children selfreported practices regarding junk food (pre/post), and part (V) An anthropometric measurement sheet. Results: The study's findings showed that children in school showed highly substantial improvements-age children's knowledge, attitude, BMI, and practice regarding junk food post one month of the designed nursing program (P<0.001). there was a statistical correlation between junk food and the growth status of children was significant, so children who haven't had junk food, have grown more favorably than the other children (P<0.05). A positive significant correlation (P=0.005) was found between school-age children's knowledge scores, attitude, growth, and practices post-one month of the designed nursing program. Conclusion: The current study found that implementing a designed nursing program improved school-age children's knowledge, attitudes, growth, and practices toward junk food. Recommendations: The study suggested that school-age children should be informed about nursing programs that are aimed to teach knowledge, a healthy attitude, growth, practice, and the negative consequences of junk food. To generalize the findings, the current study must be replicated with a wider sample of school-age children in various contexts.