Reasons and solutions for unhealthy food consumption and physical inactivity among school-going adolescents: A sequential mixed-methods study in Puducherry, South India

S Nancy; K Mujibur Rahman; S Sathish Kumar; S Sofia; M Amala Robins

doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_469_22

Reasons and solutions for unhealthy food consumption and physical inactivity among school-going adolescents: A sequential mixed-methods study in Puducherry, South India

J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Nov;11(11):6970-6977. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_469_22. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Authors

S Nancy¹, K Mujibur Rahman¹, S Sathish Kumar¹, S Sofia², M Amala Robins²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Medical College and Hospital, Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation - Deemed to be University (VMRF-DU), Karaikal, India.
² Department of Dentistry, Laugh and Smile Dental Clinic, Puducherry, India.

Abstract

Background: Unhealthy food consumption and physical inactivity in adolescents play a key role in the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Objectives: The study was planned to capture the reasons and solutions for unhealthy food consumption and physical inactivity among school-going adolescents.

Methods: A school-based sequential mixed-methods study was conducted in Puducherry for six months. In Phase I, a survey (QUAN) was carried out among 405 representative students from 9^th to 12^th standards to identify the reasons for unhealthy behaviors. Then, Phase II compromised two focus group discussions (FGDs) (QUAL) with 20 purposively selected school staff, parents, and healthcare professionals to explore the solutions for unhealthy behaviors. In Phase III, the key action points were ranked (QUAL) by 60 teachers. Quantitative data was analyzed in Epi_Info 7.1.5.0 software (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta, Georgia, US). Thematic content analysis was done for the qualitative data in Atlas.ti.9 software (Scientific Software Development GmbH, Berlin). Further, mean rank and Kendall's concordance coefficient (W) were calculated for the ranked data in SPSS 24 software (SPSS Inc; Chicago, Illinois, USA).

Results: About 70.1% of students had unhealthy food consumption and 61% of students lacked physical activity. Notably, 59.9% of males preferred unhealthy foods, and 65.2% of females were physically inactive. The leading reasons for unhealthy eating habits were taste (78.9%), increased online food delivery (75.7%), and attractive advertisements (74.3%). Whereas, the prime reasons for sedentary behaviors were increased study load (81.8%), high-density traffic (74.9%), and insufficient recreational facilities (71.7%).

Conclusion: The prioritized feasible action points would help in the development of context-specific behavior change communication strategies for future health promotion interventions in resource-poor settings.

Keywords: Health promotion; mixed methods; non-communicable diseases; physical inactivity; unhealthy food.