Abstract
Adolescence, a crucial period for growth velocity including sexual maturation, is an important period of life and young adolescent girls need to have proper knowledge, positive attitudes and practice of balanced diet to achieve optimum growth and development. Considering its importance this study attempts to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of balanced diets among adolescent schoolgirls in Noakhali district, Bangladesh. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in three secondary schools in Noakhali district, Bangladesh. A multistage sampling techniques was used to select schools and study participants. A total of 485 adolescent school girls participated and a pre-designed, validated and structured questionnaire was used for data collection. In addition to descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression were employed for analysis. The results from the study revealed that more than half of the students did not have good knowledge about a balanced diet, 42.8% had a positive attitude, whereas the practice of consuming a balanced diet was rather low (only 4.5%). Students studying in government schools had better knowledge and attitudes than non-government school students. Moreover, 41.1% of students were underweight; more than 60% of respondent's mothers did not have an education higher than secondary school and were mostly unemployed housewives. Parent's education, mother's occupation, and types of school have a strong association with KAP; however, father's education and occupation showed an association of varying degrees. Being knowledgeable was related to positive attitudes, and students with good knowledge had (OR: 1.828; 95% CI: 1.270-2.631) more likely to have positive attitudes towards a balanced diet. Thus, proper knowledge about a balanced diet should be introduced with basic nutritional knowledge to all levels of public education. Interventions and programs can be designed to improve knowledge, attitude, and more specifically the practice at the household level so that adolescent girls can have a proper diet during their sexual maturation phase.
Highlights
The word “Adolescence” comes from a Latin word “Adolescere” which means to mature, to grow, to emerge, or achieve an identity [1]
It was found that 47.4% were non-anemic and 80 subjects were suffered from anemia, among which 44.7% were mildly anemic, 7.2% were moderate anemic, and 0.7% were severely anemic
Attitudes, and practices of a balanced diet by the study participants reveals that 45.6 % of them had good knowledge, 42.7% of them had good attitudes towards a balanced diet; the practice of consuming a balanced diet was rather low
Summary
The word “Adolescence” comes from a Latin word “Adolescere” which means to mature, to grow, to emerge, or achieve an identity [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescents are those aged from 10 to 19 years [2]. Adolescence is a unique period of a girl’s life as physical, cognitive, and psychological development occurs in this period [3]. Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood and characterized by rapid physical, biological, and hormonal changes resulting in psychosocial, behavioral, and sexual maturity in an individual. It is known as the second growth spurt of life, and both boys and girls undergo different experiences in this phase [4]. Physical and mental changes are experienced during adolescent periods, and that is why a balanced diet is vital
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