COMPARISON OF THE EFFECT IVENSEE OF TWO NUTRIRION EDUCATION METHODS ON THE NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FIRST - GRADE SCHOOL GIRL STUDENTS IN TEHRAN

Many studies indicate that the nutritional knowledge and practice of adolescent girls are inadequate. Few surveys were performanced about effect of nutrition education on knowledge, attitude and practice in this vulnerable group. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of two nutrition education methods (guidebook and group discussion) on the nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice of first-grade guidance school girl students in Tehran ’s 8th district, in 2003.A total of 300 students were selected from 11 guidance schools by simple random sampling and divided into three 100-student groups: 1-guide-book, 2-group discussion, and 3-control. Data on the nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice were collected using pretest and posttest questionnaires. The students in group1 were given the guide-book and required to study it at home, while group 2 students were told to discuss among themselves the contents of the guide-book. The control group were given nothing to study or to do. The pre-test showed that the mean scores of nutrition knowledge (K), attitude (A) and practice (P) were not statistically different among the 3 groups. The scores for the 3 variables increased in the guide-book and discussion groups significantly at the end of the study period (in all cases, p<0.001), while the inter-group comparisons also showed that the K and A scores were statistically different among the 3 groups; the P, however, was not different among them. Both methods (guide-book and group discussion)increased the level of nutritional knowledge and attitude as compared to (a) – the control group,and (b) – the initial values. Also both methods increased the level of nutritional practice as compared to (b) – the initial values. The group discussion method was more effective than the guide-book method in the promotion of the nutritional knowledge of the students.