Nutritional knowledge, practice, and dietary habits among school children and adolescents

Abstract

Background:Although nutritional status of children and adolescents is of great concern various interventions and modifications aiming at promotion of healthy eating behaviors have limited impact due to insufficient understanding of dietary habits between different age groups and genders. The aim of this study in not only evaluation of nutritional knowledge, practice, and dietary habits of primary school and junior high school students in Isfahan province, but also this research explore crucial differences regarding gender and living area of the above-mentioned population in Iran.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on 4700 primary school and junior high school pupils in Isfahan province. Data were collected through standard 24-h recall food frequency questionnaire and researcher-designed questionnaire. Independent t-test was applied for comparison of mean values of total units of consumed food materials. Qualitative variables were compared by using the Chi-square test. Data were analyzed by ACCESS 2010 and SPSS 18 software.Results:Nutritional knowledge of female pupils and junior high school students was higher than their male and elementary school students respectively; still, theses superiorities did not lead to higher practice score. Bread and cereals group received daily intakes in accordance with food and drug administration (FDA) recommendations. Indeed, vegetables, milk, and dairy products, as well as meat daily intakes, were lower than the FDA recommendation, whereas fats, oils, and sugars intakes were higher. In comparison to females, male participants had significantly lower consumption of vegetables and fruits whilst they had a higher intake of carbohydrates, fats, and meats.Conclusions:Our results showed that adolescents failed to meet sufficient nutritional requirements, and they had an imbalanced diet, which was considerably low in several essential nutrients and high in some food materials.

What do active male brazilian adolescents know about fruits and vegetables?

“…Similar accounts were found in the literature on the lack of association between awareness and levels of physical activity, age, socioeconomic status, gender 16,25,28 and BMI, 28,30 except for the Italian study 27 which showed a slightly higher awareness score (1 point total score) in healthy subjects compared to overweight ones (p < 0.003). Studies are consistent on the grounds that food consciousness is related to environmental and family factors, besides state of motivation itself, and not to organic factors.…”

“…14 The data reported in this analysis is useful for possible inferences about the population's eating habits, as poor awareness of food and nutrition refl ects on the consolidation of attitudes and food choices, even under interference from environmental factors hitherto mentioned. [16][17]25,27 As a diagnostic instrument, they support the planning of focused action plans, given ample evidence of the positive impact of educational interventions on FV intake. 25,[31][32] For this population, it is also important to combine the baseline awareness data to further investigation into motivational state (pre-contemplation, contemplation, decision, action) and environmental characteristics 17 of adolescents, so that the right strategies are established, including working with both parents and the community in which they live.…”

“…2,8,10,11,14 At this age, one is capable of better absorbing the contents of interventions and managing food choices compared with children, and, in order to take effective action, it is important to assess the level of nutritional awareness. 1,[16][17] The objective of this study, therefore, is to describe and compare data on nutritional awareness regarding FV among adolescents aged 10-12 from fi ve Brazilian regions, according to demographic characteristics, physical activity levels, screen time and Body Mass Index (BMI).…”

Eating habits of urban youth aged 16-18

“…Nutritional knowledge of female pupils was higher than male in the study of Naeeni et al [26], Tallarini et al [27] and Asakura et al [28].…”

World Health Organization advocates for a healthy diet for all: Global perspective

“…[12789] However, to encourage appropriate infant and young child feeding practices, apart from encouraging and supporting breastfeeding in both hospital and community settings, other steps such as promoting protection of working mothers and implementing standardized recommendations on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes can deliver beneficial results. [7]…”