Investigation of the Knowledge and Skill of Proper Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables among Shahrekord Adolescent Girls

The life style is formed and stabilized in adolescence. Since consumption of fruits and vegetables may affect the risk of chronic diseases, their low consumption during adolescence is very important. Knowledge and skill is considered as one of the main determinants of this behavior. This study aimed to investigate the Knowledge and skill of proper consumption of fruit and vegetables among adolescent girls in Shahrekord, Iran.
This study was a descriptive-analytic investigation conducted on high school girls in Shahrekord city during 2013 to 2014. 308 female students were selected randomly from 8 high schools and a researcher made questionnaire was used to collect the demographic, Knowledge and skill related data. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by internal consistency method (Cronbach's alpha = 0.70, Cronbach's alpha= 0.76), respectively. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS-21 software.
The mean age of students was 13.86 ± 1.3 years. There was no statistically significant association between consumption of fruit and vegetables and fathers’ education level, mothers’ job and parents’ age. However, there was a significant association between fathers’ job and adolescents’ skill of fruit and vegetables consumption (P Considering the adolescents’ low knowledge and skill in proper consumption of fruit and vegetables and also the direct association between knowledge and skill, it seems necessary to implement educational programs according to the health education and promotion theories and models, with contribution of parents and school personnel, to improve the knowledge and skill and empower adolescent girls in consumption of fruit and vegetables.