Effects of Nutrition Literacy Promotion Program on Eating Behavior of Secondary School Students
Keywords:
nutrition literacy promotion program, nutrition literacy, eating behavior, grade 7 studentsAbstract
Poor eating behavior is a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases. Adolescence is a crucial stage between childhood and adulthood where an individual develops new behavior and practices, including dietary habits, under the influence of family, friends and knowledge of nutrition. Early improvement of literacy in nutrition may lead to healthy lifelong eating habit. This quasi-experimental study was aimed at assessing the effects of a nutrition literacy promotion program on the nutrition literacy and eating behavior of secondary school students in the Province of Samut Prakan. Experimental and comparison groups consisted of samples of 33 grade 7 students from each of 2 coeducational secondary schools in the study area. The nutritional literacy promotion program was provided to the experimental group for 4 weeks. The nutrition literacy’s program consisted of accessing, understanding, and analyzing nutritional information and dietary decisions based on methods of active learning including lectures, game playing, question and answer sessions, and brainstorming. The comparison group received the nutrition education program from the regular school health curriculum. Self-administered questionnaires on nutrition literacy and eating behavior were collected at baseline and 4 weeks after the start of the intervention. Weight and height were performed for anthropometric measurements. Paired t-test, independent 2 simple t-tests, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used at a 5% significance level. The results showed that improvements in overall nutrition literacy and eating behavior among the experimental group were significantly higher than for the comparison group (p<0.001 and 0.001, respectively). However, after controlling for students’ sex, grade-point average, daily allowance, place of residence and source of family foods, the experimental group had a significantly higher change of nutrition literacy and eating behavior, following the intervention, than did the comparison group (p<0.001 and 0.003, respectively). An increase is noted in nutrition literacy from baseline to the post-intervention period, and that improvement was significantly reflected in a better eating behavior. To promote nutrition literacy and eating behavior among secondary school students, a program of nutrition literacy should be included into the regular school health curriculum.
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