The relationship between habits, food preference and malnutrition among 11 - 14 years old adolescents at Phu Thu secondary school, Cai Rang district, Can Tho, 2021

Abstract

Early adolescence age (11 - 14 years old) is the period when children develop rapidly in terms of physical and psychological development so nutritional issues at this stage have been paid attention. The objective of this study is to describe the malnourished status and analyses the relationship between eating habit
factors and malnutrition of 11 – 14 years old students at Phu Thu Secondary School, Phu Thu ward, Cai Rang district, Can Tho City in 2021. A cross - sectional study, anthropometric and self questionnaire interview about eating habits on 418 students at Phu Thu secondary school. The results showed that, the malnutrition rate was 11.3%, in which the malnutrition rate of male and female children is similar (11% and 11.5%, respectively (p > 0.05). The older the child, the higher the prevalence of malnutrition (the rate of the malnutrition ages 11 to 14 is 4%; 8.6; 17.8; 14.3%, respectively) (p < 0.05). There is no statistically significant association between eating habits and malnutrition. There is a statistically significant relationship between regular deworming habits and satisfaction in body shape with child malnutrition (p < 0.05). The recommendation is that students increase
their regular deworming practice and raise awareness on nutrition so that they can improve their nutritional status.