Impact of a Nutrition Educational Program on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related To Weight Control of Adolescent Girls In Alexandria

Abstract

Adolescence is defined as the period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and ending with the cessation of somatic growth. It is one of the most challenging periods in the human development.. These sudden changes create special nutritional needs. The adolescence is considered especially vulnerable nutritionally. Obesity constitutes one of the most prevalent forms of nutritional diseases. In Egypt contradictory figures have been presented. The most significant consequences of adolescent obesity is that most continue to become obese adults where chronic diseases associated with obesity are manifested by premature death. Consumption of excess amount of food with higher energy density and the lack of physical activity, as a result of advances in technology and the modem way of living are the main culprits in the development of obesity problem. On the other end of the scope are the low body mass and the short stature of the adolescents, which are the cumulative outcome of nutritional pattern in early life. Although the tigures of weight disorders vary to some extent, and the scope is wide, yet the nutritional pattern and behavior of the adolescents is a very important public health issue. However it is not just the size ofthe problem that is important but also its impact. Primary prevention refers to the attempts to intervene .prior to the development of a disorder and generally trying to alter the risk factor. The main strategy used in primary prevention is nutrition education. Many studies showed that it is possible to improve the self-concept and to do so through an intervention carried uuL in Lht: sehoul t:n v ironmenl. It was suggested that nutrition education emphasizing human physiology and energy metabolism an effective strategy to prevent weight management problem. The aim of the current study was to assess the nutritional status, knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of adolescent girls about normal weight and weight control measures. Moreover , the study aimed to construct, implement and assess the impact vf an intervention nutrition educational program on nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescent school girls toward their body weight. In order to accomplish the aim, this study was conducted in two phases during the scholastic years of 2002 I 2003 and 2003 /2004. The study was conducted in the secondary schools of six educational zones of Alexandria Govern rate. The study population was the secondary school girls students enrolled in the first grade in both governmental and private schools. The first stage was the cross sectional approach to study the food consumption pattern among secondary school girls students. From each district of the six districts in Alexandria, four school were selected; two governmental and two private. From each school one class was selected randomly from the first grade . The total sample size was I 086 students; 631 from the governmental and 455 from the private schools.