Impact of School Based Education Program on Dietary Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Preparatory School Girls in Assiut City

As unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco use are common risk factors of the non-communicable diseases, elimination of these modifiable risk factors would prevent 80% of premature heart disease, 80% of premature stroke, 80% of type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer.

Studies indicate that good nutrition is especially important during adolescence, which is a period of biological and social change. These are crucial years for normal physical and mental development, and the diet and eating behaviors that develop during these years tend to persist throughout life. During adolescence, body size and composition, bodily functions and physical abilities change rapidly, and under-nutrition can slow height and weight growth and may delay puberty. In addition, healthful eating habits in young people not only help to prevent under-nutrition, growth retardation and acute nutritional problems, but also can enhance students' educational performance and learning . Nutrition-related health problems among the youth are apparent in developing countries where, paradoxically, both over- and under-nutrition can coexist.

At the global level, major modifications in the dietary habits have occurred since the second half of the twentieth century; first in industrial regions and more recently in developing countries. The concept of 'food' has changed from a means of nourishment to a marker of lifestyle and a source of pleasure as portrayed by media. A large proportion of televised food advertisements are of highly processed foods/convenient foods with, high caloric content, large amounts of fat and sugar, and with little or no micronutrient content .

Also, due to low cost and easy availability, people are increasingly consuming high-saturated-fat snacks, refined carbohydrates and sweetened carbonated beverages. There is an increased inclination to replace traditional meals with energy-dense imbalanced foods. Irregular meals, snacking, eating away from home, and following alternative dietary patterns have already been frequently reported among adolescents in many countries.

The traditional Egyptian diet has also been modified in the recent decades with introduction of new foods and eating habits.Such dietary patterns with inadequate physical activity trigger the onset of fat deposition and lead to early metabolic derangements such as the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus .