A study on dietary intake among school going adolescent girls in rural and urban area of Jamnagar District, Gujarat

Abstract

Background: During adolescent period, rapid changes in physical growth and psychosocial development have placed these young adults in nutritionally vulnerable groups with poor eating habits that fail to meet essential dietary requirements. Health of adolescent girls has intergenerational effect. Objectives: (1) To assess the dietary intake of various food items and (2) to see the variation in dietary intake of girls from rural and urban area. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 670 school going adolescent girls of Jamnagar District of Gujarat, with the help of a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Information were collected regarding sociodemographic features and dietary pattern, intake of nutritious, and non-nutritious food items from 9th to 12th std. girls who were willing to participate. Analysis was done using percentages and χ2 test to see rural-urban differences. Results: Most of the girls (90%) in both rural and urban area were pure vegetarian and had regular meal. 83.1% of girls had habit of snacks 1–2 times a day. Only 1.5% of rural and 9% of urban area girls consume pulses daily. 59.6% of study adolescents were taking green leafy vegetables 1–3 times a week. Two-third (67%) of study participants had intake of fruits 1–3 times a week. Only 17.5% had daily intake of milk. 16.7% of girls had habit of daily consumption of tea/coffee. Frequency of intake fast food and sweets/ice cream/pastries was 1–3 times a week in two-third of adolescents. Statistically significant difference was observed in intake of various nutritious and non-nutritious food items (except for milk and fast food) in rural and urban area girls (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Majority of the adolescents had regular enough number of meals and snacks, but intake of nutritious food such as milk, protein-rich food, green leafy vegetables, and fruits was not enough according to ICMR standards. On the other hand, intake of non-nutritious food such as tea/coffee, fast food, sweets, ice cream, and pastries was observed in girls. On comparison, intake of nutritious food items was less in rural area, whereas non-nutritious food items were more in urban area.