Abstract

SCHOOL-BASED NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS AND FOOD CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR OF ADOLESCENTS

Dronadula Borraiah*

ABSTRACT

Background: With growing prevalence of childhood obesity and declining nutrition value of average school meals globally, exploring interventions that can effectively improve the food consumption behaviour of school-going children has become the need of the hour. As such, this research aims to investigate the efficacy of school-based nutrition education and food interventions on the food consumption behaviour of adolescents. Methodology: A systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analysis (MA) approach was adopted to explore the effect of school-based nutrition education and food interventions on the daily fruit and snack consumption frequency ofchildren. A comprehensive search strategy was used to identify suitable empirical studies that aligned with the eligibility criteria of this research. Pooled effects estimation using Review Manager web application was used to conduct statistical analysis and quality appraisal of the included studies. Results: Pooled effects estimation for daily fruit consumption frequency yielded an overall effect of 0.10 (95% CI, 0.09, 0.11) for a Z-score of 18.95 and a p-value of <0.00001. Similar analysis for daily snack consumption produced an overall effect size of -0.20 (95% CI, 0.28, 0.11) for a Z-score of 4.52 and a p-value of <0.00001. These results imply that school-based nutrition education and food interventions have a statistically significant effect on improving the daily fruit consumption frequency and decreasing the daily snack consumption frequency. However, the heterogeneity was large and statistically significant for both the analyses, which indicates the need for more high-quality empirical studies to yield reliable and valid findings. Conclusion: This SLR and MA conclude that school-based nutrition education and food interventions can statistically significantly inform the food consumption behaviour. However, there is a need for more empirical studies to yield conclusive evidence.

Keywords: Adolescents, Nutrition education, School, Food literacy.