Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Nutrition among Adolescent Girls in Dhaka City: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Nutrition knowledge and positive attitude are known to influence dietary practices. Poor dietary practices are major contributors to the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. The aim of this study to explore the basic nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) among adolescent girls in Dhaka City. It was a cross-sectional study using a quantitative approach. A total of 500 adolescent girls (aged 10-19 yrs) from four schools and colleges were included in this study. The early adolescent and late adolescent girls’ age [yrs, (Mean ± SD)] was 12±1 and 17±1 respectively. About 31% of early adolescent girls were underweight according to different BMI categories (adapted from WHO guidelines-2004). The early adolescent girls’ 65% took breakfast before going to school but 43% skip to take lunch in school. And the late adolescent girl shows about 46% took breakfast before going to school but 30% skip to take lunch in school individually. The early adolescent girls’ nutritional knowledge score shows about 61.5% moderate, 86.5% remain positive attitude and 21.2% had good practices. Whereas late-adolescent girls’ nutritional knowledge score shows about 57.1% moderate, 90.1% remain positive attitude and 11.3% had good practices. Among the early adolescent girls shows the significant association of nutritional knowledge with attitude and practices (p=<0.001, p=0.005). Nevertheless, the late adolescent girls show only a significant association of nutritional knowledge with attitude (p=0.002). The results of the study revealed that adolescent girls having good knowledge, remain positive attitudes regarding nutrition, but practices were deficient in some aspects.