Nutritional Pattern among Adolescents: A Case Study of a Secondary School at Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

The period of adolescence has wide cultural and individual variation; it is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood, a time of profound biological, intellectual, psychosocial, and economic changes. This study aimed to assess the nutritional pattern among adolescents in the context of a Secondary School in Khartoum, Sudan. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional case study. It was conducted at Al-Khartoum Algadeeda Secondary School, Khartoum, Sudan. The population for the current study includes all the female students of12 to 15 years of age who were attending the school at the time of data collection. The sample was selected by the convenience sampling technique. The sample size of the study was 200. A standard close-ended interview questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The data were presented in figures and tables. The current study found that the adolescent girls of the target population had knowledge regarding nutrition but they are not well informed about nutritional needs. A specific educational program about good nutrition will help them to gain appropriate nutritional knowledge which will inspire them to adopt good nutritional behavior and attitude to become healthy adolescents.