Does a nutrition education programme change the knowledge and practice of healthy diets among high school adolescents in Chennai, India?

Background: Nutrition education is used as a way of promoting lifelong healthy eating practices among school adolescents. There is limited published information on the impact of nutrition education programmes in India. Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practices of high school students with respect to healthy diets before and after a nutrition education programme. Design: Pre- and post-intervention questionnaire survey. Setting: Two private schools in Chennai city. Method: This study was conducted among adolescents studying in standard VIII and IX in two private schools in Chennai city. Nutrition education as lectures and interactive discussions were given to students one hour every week for a period of 10 weeks. Information on knowledge and attitude on healthy eating and dietary practices was collected before and after the nutrition education intervention using a questionnaire. Differences in knowledge, attitude and practice of students on healthy diet were measured using the X2 test with the level of significance p<0.05. © 2012 The Author(s).