DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i01.038

Pages: 184-187

School going adolescent period is often associated with increased number of meals taken other than home and increased consumption of junk foods in the form of snacks and soft drinks which may result in health problems associated with nutrition. The study aimed to assess eating habits among school going adolescents girls in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. A cross sectional study was conducted among 336 school going adolescent girls in Barabanki district from June 2016 to September 2016. Multistage sampling was used to enroll the study subjects. A maximum of 336 school going adolescent girls were interviewed using self-administered questionnaire and their dietary pattern, food habits and preferences were thus assessed. The mean age of the adolescent girls in study sample was 14.3 ± 3.1years. The consumption of deep fried snacks/namkeens/potato chips was reported in four- fifth of the cases (near about 80%). About one-fourth of the girls stated that they never take breakfast before coming to school (22.6%). Daily intake of breakfast was found in 16.9% of the study subjects while 43.0% of the girls stated about frequent missing of meals. The study findings highlights the need to bring out behavioral change in eating habits among school going adolescent girls through appropriate and timely interventions so as to prevent them from diet related health problems.