Article type :

Original article

Author :

Jugal Kishore

Volume :

1

Issue :

1

Abstract :

Under-nutrition continues to be a major nutritional problem and obesity is on the rise amongst school children, particularly in the urban areas. Frequent snacking and sedentary lifestyles have been implicated for this rise in obesity. This study was undertaken to assess dietary knowledge, attitude, behavior (including life skills) and level of physical activity among school adolescents of Delhi. A cross-sectional study was done in a school of Central Delhi. Out of the total 360 students, 312 (86.7%) 9th–11th class school adolescents were included in the study after consent from their parents. A pre-designed, pre-tested, semistructured, self-administered questionnaire was used to assess demographic information and dietary behavior. Physical activity was recorded and height and weight were measured using validated techniques. Data was analyzed using SPSS and Epi-info software package. The mean age of the adolescents was 15.49 ± 1.17 years. About 24% of adolescents were underweight, 5% overweight and 2% were found obese. Though the knowledge and attitude about healthy eating was good, but this was not being seen in their actual eating practices as 81% of adolescents preferred eating “junk food” as their favorite snack. 53% of the subjects were missing their breakfast while 45.2% did not take lunch at all. Most of the subjects especially girls (51%) did not take physical education classes. Majority of school adolescents were not practicing healthy eating habits. The study highlighted the need for an educational and behavior change intervention program such as life skills-based education to avoid long-term health effects.