Evaluation of dietary Intake and Food Patterns of Adolescent Girls in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Iran

Authors

  • Farzaneh Montazerifar Departments of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Research Center for Health Promotion and Social Development, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan
  • Mansour Karajibani Departments of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Research Center for Health Promotion and Social Development, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan
  • Ali Reza Dashipour Departments of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v2i3.98

Abstract

Background: The evidence suggests a relationship between lifestyle and diet-related risk factors.

Objective: This study assessed the dietary intake and habits of high school girls in Sistan and Bluchistan province, in southeastern Iran.

Methods: In a cross-sectional, descriptive study, 753 high school girls aged 14-18 years old wereenrolled by a clustered random sampling method. Dietary intake and food habits were evaluated by a two-day, 24-hour dietary recall, and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Results: The analysis of dietary intakes showed that energy, calcium, zinc, vitamin C and folate intake, compared to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI), were found to be lower. The, infrequent intake of milk and dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and a high consumption of empty calorie foods e.g. salty snacks, sweets, soft drinks and junk foods were seen among adolescents.

Conclusions: The adolescent girls had an improper dietary intake and food habits. Thus, the implementation of nutrition education programs in schools and the designing of proper patterns towards healthier food choices could help improve eating behaviors, the health maintenance of adolescents, and also prevent diet- related diseases in adulthood.

Key words: Adolescent girls, Dietary intake, Food habits

Downloads

Published

2012-03-31

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2012): March 2012

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.

By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained.