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A Survey to Evaluate the Eating Behaviors among Adolescent Girls of Rural Area
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Background: Today's adolescents are tomorrow's adults. The nutritional needs during adolescence are increased because of the increased growth rate and changes in body composition associated with puberty. The eating behaviour of young people has come increasingly under the spotlight in recent years amid claims that many adolescents have poor dietary habits.
Objectives: The present study focused on the following objectives, (1) to evaluate the eating behaviors among the adolescents population and (2) to find association of eating behaviors with their selected socio demographic characteristics.
Material and methods: The descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the eating behaviors of adolescent girls of rural area of Loni (Bk) village. Total of 70 adolescent girls studying in College of Nursing were selected. Stratified random sampling (proportionate) technique was used to gather the information. A survey method was used with structured rating questionnaire to obtain the information. The descriptive statistics (mean. SD, mean percent) and inferential statistics (chi square test) were applied wherever required.
Results: The result reveals that the adolescents had satisfactory eating behaviors with the mean score of 84.3±3.6 which is 53%. In relation to various aspects of eating behaviors, the highest mean score (18.8±2.3) which is 62.8% was obtained for 'satisfaction with diet' which is satisfactory eating habits and the lowest mean score and mean percent which is 47.4% was obtained for 'eating habits' and 'meal time habits' indicates adolescents had unhealthy eating habits. It was also found that there was a significant association with eating behavior and the socio demographic variable like family monthly income at p<0.05 level).
Conclusion: The welfare of the entire community depends on the health and welfare of youth. It is essential to raise awareness on significance of diet and healthy eating behaviors; and develop health seeking behaviors among the rural adolescents to improve health status and quality of life.
Keywords
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