Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Dietary habits and effect of two different educational tools on nutrition knowledge of school going adolescent girls in Hyderabad, India

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 61, pages 1081–1085 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives:

To assess dietary habits and nutrition knowledge levels of the adolescent girls from different schools and to study the efficacy of two different nutrition education tools in improving their nutrition knowledge in the classroom setting.

Design:

Purposive sampling technique was adapted for selecting the subjects in the study.

Setting:

Four secondary schools in Hyderabad, India.

Subjects:

In total, 164 adolescent girls belonging to eighth grade.

Interventions:

Two interventions (Intervention-1. Traditional method using print media such as folders leaflets and charts; Intervetion-2. Audio-visual CD) were carried out in a classroom setting for the experimental group.

Results:

FFQ data on dietary consumption of adolescent girls revealed more consumption of aerated drinks, bakery items, fast foods and less consumption of millets irrespective of their socio-economic conditions. However, consumption of vegetables, green leafy vegetables and fruits was moderate. A significant improvement in the nutrition related knowledge was observed among the experimental group after interventions-1 and -2 as compared to the baseline data. However, no significant difference in the improvement of nutrition knowledge levels was observed with the second intervention over the first intervention as already the children in the experimental group gained knowledge through print media.

Conclusions:

Education on ill effects of aerated drinks, fast foods and the importance of nutrition during the adolescent phase should be emphasized in future programmes.

Sponsorship:

The study was supported by the National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research), Hyderabad from the intramural funds.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmed F, Hassan N, Kabir Y (1997). Vitamin A deficiency among adolescent female garment factory workers in Bangladesh. Eur J Clin Nutr 51, 698–702.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson LF, Nes M, Lillegaard IT, Sandstad B, Bjorneboe G- E, Drevon CA (1995). Evaluation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire used in a group of Norwegian adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 49, 543–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basu A, Roy SK, Mukhopadhyay B, Bharati P, Gupta R, Majumdar PP (1986). Sex bias in intrahousehold food distribution: roles of ethnicity and socioeconomic characteristics. Curr Anthropol 27, 536–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhaskaram P (2001). The cycle of malnutrition and women's health. Nutr News 22, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clancy-Hepburn K, Hickey AA, Nevill G (1974). Children's behaviour responses to TV food advertisements. The child and Adolescent Trial for Cardio Vascular Health, CATCH Collaborative Group. J Nutr Edu 6, 93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green L, Iverson D (1982). School health education. Ann Rev Public Health 3, 321–338.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leupker RV, Perry CL, Mc Kinlay SM, Nader PR, Parcel GS, Stone EJ (1996). Outcomes of a field trial to improve children's dietary patterns and physical activity. JAMA 275, 768–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lionis C, Kafatos A, Vlachonicolis J, Vakaki M, Tzorttizi M, Petraki A (1991). The effect of health education intervention programme among Cretan adolescents. Prevent Med 20, 685–699.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • National Institute of Nutrition (1998). Dietary Guidelines for Indians – A Manual. Indian Council of Medical Council; Hyderabad, p29.

  • National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (2003). Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiency Disorders. Technical Report No. 23. NIN, Hyderabad, p16.

  • Nicklas TA, Johnson CC, Farris R, Rice R, Lyon L, Shi R (1997). Development of school-based nutrition intervention for high school students: Gimme 5. Am J Health Promot 11, 315–322.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigo CP, Javier A (2001). School-based nutrition education: lessons learned and new perspectives. Public Health Nutr 4, 131–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw A, Mathur P, Mehrotra NN (1993). A study of consumer attitude towards processed foods. Indian Food Industry 47, 29–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spear BA (2002). Adolescent growth and development. J Am Dietetic Assoc 102 (Suppl), S23–S29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subba Rao GM, Raghunatha Rao D, Venkaiah K, Anil Kumar D, Rameshwar Sarma KV (2006). Evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization's global school-based nutrition education initiative, Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger (FMFH), in schools of Hyderabad, India. Public Health Nutr 9, 991–995.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turnin MC, Tauber MT, Couvaras O, Jouret B, Bolzonella C, Bourgeois O et al. (2001). Evaluation of microcomputer nutritional teaching games in 1,876 children at school. Diabet Metabol 27, 459–464.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vijayapushpam T, Krishna Kumari Menon, Raghunatha Rao D, Grace Maria Anthony (2003). A qualitative assessment of nutrition knowledge levels and dietary intake of schoolchildren in Hyderabad. Public Health Nutr 6, 683–688.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vijayaraghavan K, Rao NP (1982). An evaluation of the National Prophylaxis Programme against blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. Nutr Rep Int 25, 431–441.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all the principals and students of participating schools for their cooperation. We gratefully acknowledge with thanks the continuous encouragement given by Dr B Sivakumar, former Director, NIN/FDTRC/NNMB during this study. Thanks are also due to all the staff of Extension & Training Division of NIN for their support during the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Extension & Training Division, National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Jamai-Osmania, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

    D Raghunatha Rao, T Vijayapushpam, G M Subba Rao & K V R Sarma

  2. Division of Field Studies, National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Jamai-Osmania, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

    G M Antony

Authors
  1. D Raghunatha Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T Vijayapushpam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G M Subba Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G M Antony
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K V R Sarma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D Raghunatha Rao.

Additional information

Guarantors: GM Antony, GMS Rao and KVR Sarma.

Contributors: DRR and TV were the principal investigators; they devised the study protocol, secured funding and directed the over all programme. They also contributed in data collection, analyses and interpretation. DRR was responsible for the preparation of manuscript. GMSR assisted the principal investigators in preparation of the CD Rom intervention tool and the manuscript. GMA was responsible for data processing, statistical design and analyses. KVRS supervised the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Raghunatha Rao, D., Vijayapushpam, T., Subba Rao, G. et al. Dietary habits and effect of two different educational tools on nutrition knowledge of school going adolescent girls in Hyderabad, India. Eur J Clin Nutr 61, 1081–1085 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602622

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602622

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links