Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:59:14.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A qualitative assessment of nutrition knowledge levels and dietary intake of schoolchildren in Hyderabad

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2006

T Vijayapushpam ,
Krishna Kumari Menon ,
D Raghunatha Rao  and
Grace Maria Antony
T Vijayapushpam*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research), Jamai Osmania PO, Hyderabad – 500 007, India
Krishna Kumari Menon
Affiliation:
National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research), Jamai Osmania PO, Hyderabad – 500 007, India
D Raghunatha Rao
Affiliation:
National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research), Jamai Osmania PO, Hyderabad – 500 007, India
Grace Maria Antony
Affiliation:
National Institute of Nutrition (Indian Council of Medical Research), Jamai Osmania PO, Hyderabad – 500 007, India
*
*Corresponding author: Email Pushpaviji@yahoo.com
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objectives:

To assess the nutrition knowledge levels and dietary intake pattern of schoolchildren belonging to two groups of different socio-economic status (SES; high income/high SES and low income/low SES).

Design:

A purposive sampling method was employed. A validated food-frequency questionnaire was administered to assess the dietary intake of schoolchildren in four schools from two different socio-economic strata in the month of January 2001. The children were divided into two groups, one serving as the experimental group and the other as the control group.

Subjects:

Two hundred and seventy-two children aged between 12 and 14 years.

Results:

There was a significant improvement (P < 0.001) in the knowledge levels of high-SES schoolchildren as compared with low-SES schoolchildren. A significant difference was observed in the intake of protective foods like milk and milk products, green leafy vegetables and fruits between the two income groups. However, children from the high SES background preferred fast foods such as noodles and corn flakes to traditional foods. Irrespective of income group, most of the children consumed carbonated beverages.

Conclusions:

There was a significant difference in the intakes of protective foods and fast foods between the different income groups. However, the increased intake of fast foods and carbonated beverages by the children irrespective of SES needs to be discouraged as a part of nutrition education. The study indicated the need for repeated interventions for improvement of nutrition knowledge levels in low-SES children.

Keywords

Qualitative assessmentFood-frequency questionnaireSocio-economic factorsTraditional foodsNutrition education
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 7 , October 2003 , pp. 683 - 688
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2003

References

1Pietinen, P, Hartman, AM, Happa, G, Rasanen, L, Haapakoski, J, Palmgren, J, et al. Reproducibility and validity of dietary assessment instruments. A self-administered food use questionnaire with a portion size picture & booklet. American Journal of Epidemiology 1988; 128: 655–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Clancy-Hepburn, K, Hickey, AA, Nevill, G. Children's behaviour responses to TV food advertisements. Journal of Nutrition Education 1974; 6: 93.Google Scholar
3Chu, YS, Kolonel, NL, Hankin, JH, Lee, J. A comparison of frequency and quantitative dietary methods for epidemiological studies of diet and disease. American Journal of Epidemiology 1984; 119(3): 323–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4National Institute of Nutrition. Nutrition Profile of a Community in Haryana – Sonipat District. Hyderabad: Indian Council of Medical Research, 1996; 5.Google Scholar
5Samet, MJ, Humble, GC, Skipper, EB. Alternatives in the collection and analysis of food frequency interview data. American Journal of Epidemiology 1984; 120(4): 572–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6National Institute of Nutrition. Annual Report: Diet, Nutritional Status and Food Beliefs of Adolescent Girls, 1994–95. Hyderabad: Indian Council of Medical Research, 1995; 101–2.Google Scholar
7Bailey, DA, McKay, HA, Mirwald, RL, Crocker, PR, Faulkner, RA. A six year longitudinal study of the relationship of physical activity to bone mineral accrual in growing children: The University of Saskatchewan Bone Mineral Accrual Study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 1999; 14: 1672–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Thimmayamma, BVS, Satyanarayana, K, Rao, K, Parvathi, Rao, Swaminathan, MC. The effect of socio-economic differences on the dietary intake of urban population in Hyderabad. Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 1973; 10: 8.Google Scholar
9Woodward, DR. What influences adolescent food intake. Human Nutrition. Applied Nutrition 1986; 40A: 185–94.Google Scholar
10Lien, N, Lytle, LA, Klepp, KI. Stability in consumption of fruit vegetables and sugary foods in a cohort from age 14 to 21. Preventive Medicine 2001; 33(3): 217–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Shaw, A, Mathur, P, Mehrotra, . A study of consumer attitude towards processed foods. Journal of Indian Food Packers 1993; XL(VII): 2.Google Scholar
12National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians. Hyderabad: Indian Council of Medical Research, 1998; 56.Google Scholar