A Study of Dietary Practices and Nutritional Awareness among Adolescent Girls of Ranchi District (Jharkhand)

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adolescent as any person between ages 10 and 19 years. Adolescence is characterized by the growth spurt, a period in which growth is very fast. During this time, the body's nutritional needs are affected by the physical development, while changes in one’s lifestyle may also affect eating habits and food choices. Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood, a window of opportunity for the improvement of nutritional status and correcting poor dietary practices. Good nutrition is therefore very important for the proper growth and development and the prevention of any health problems in adolescents in the future. Thus, in the present study, an attempt was made to study the Dietary practices and awareness level of the adolescent girls. The study was conducted in rural and urban areas of Ranchi district of Jharkhand state. Self -made questionnaire was used to assess the level of Nutritional awareness and dietary practices of adolescent girls of Ranchi district. The survey method of research was used to get the desired information in the study. Two hundred adolescent girls of 13 to 17 years of age were selected through simple random sampling technique. Findings showed that when compared to urban adolescents, rural adolescents were less informed and have less awareness about health and Nutrition. The majority of rural adolescent girls have poor dietary practices and moderate nutritional awareness and in urban area majority of the respondents have relatively better nutritional awareness. Nutritional awareness has impact on dietary practices of adolescents, which also adversely affects their health. So, adolescent girls need nutrition education to improve their knowledge and nutritional awareness.