Sources of nutrition information and nutritional knowledge among school-going adolescents in Bangladesh

Satyajit Kundu; Md Shafiqul Islam Khan; Jhantu Bakchi; Abu Sayeed; Md Hasan Al Banna; Musammet Rasheda Begum; Md Nazmul Hassan

doi:10.1016/j.puhip.2020.100030

Sources of nutrition information and nutritional knowledge among school-going adolescents in Bangladesh

Public Health Pract (Oxf). 2020 Jul 12:1:100030. doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2020.100030. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Satyajit Kundu¹, Md Shafiqul Islam Khan², Jhantu Bakchi³, Abu Sayeed⁴, Md Hasan Al Banna², Musammet Rasheda Begum⁵, Md Nazmul Hassan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Food Analysis, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh.
² Department of Food Microbiology, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, 1229, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Post-Harvest Technology and Marketing, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences, Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Khulsi, Chattogram, 4225, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Environmental Sanitation, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, 8602, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Objectives: The increasing prevalence of malnutrition among school-going adolescents is a major public health threat in Bangladesh. School studying adolescents are a crucial group suffering from malnutrition. Proper nutrition information can enrich their knowledge, promote their health and also minimize the burden of malnutrition. The study aimed to identify the sources of information and corresponding knowledge level on nutrition among school-going adolescents in Bangladesh.

Study design: A school-based cross-sectional survey was carried out from January to August 2019.

Methods: A pre-structured questionnaire having 13 validated questions regarding facts panel of packaged food and daily dietary habits was used to assess the knowledge. Scores on nutritional knowledge were calculated by summing up the answer values (Yes = 1, No = 0) and, scores below the overall mean were considered low. Logistic regression was employed to identify whether any source was related to respondents' nutritional knowledge.

Results: Family members were the most popular (52.4%) source of nutrition information. Majority students (43.2%) trusted professionals as an accurate source. Approximately half (49.1%) of the participants scored low (<9.34) in basic nutrition knowledge assessment. Participants seeking information from family members (AOR: 0.693; 95% CI: 0.555-0.866, p < 0.05) and online resources (AOR: 0.826, 95% CI: 0.710-0.962, p < 0.05) were less likely to obtain low scores than those not favored the sources.

Conclusion: Knowledge about essential nutrition among school-going adolescents was quite low. The findings of this study are useful to the policymakers to develop and design interventions to improve adolescents' knowledge of nutrition. A school-based nutrition awareness program can be introduced to reduce malnutrition among adolescents in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Family members; Nutrition information; Nutrition knowledge; School-going adolescents.