The Impact of Nutrition Education on the Health of Adolescent Girls in Senior Secondary Schools of Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State

ABSTRACT The study examines the impact of nutrition education on the health of adolescent girls in selected senior secondary schools in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State. It was aimed to find out the level of nutrition knowledge in relation to self-reported health outcomes, ascertain the channels through which adolescent girls acquire nutritional knowledge, determine the relationship between nutrition knowledge and dietary habits among adolescent girls and to find out the relationship between various factors influencing nutrition education and dietary choices among adolescent girls. To achieve the above, the research made use of the cross-sectional survey research design, with a sample population of 1268 adolescent girls from 8 public secondary schools and a sample size of 304 adolescent girls. The research made use of primary data collected through the administration of a structured questionnaire titled “Impact of Nutrition Education Questionnaire’ (INEQ). The data collected were presented in tables and percentage and analyzed using the simple linear regression model at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis showed a significant relationship between the level of nutrition knowledge and self-reported health outcomes of adolescent girls, a significant effect of the channels of nutritional knowledge acquisition on the health of adolescent girls, a significant relationship between nutrition knowledge and dietary habits among adolescent girls, and a significant relationship between the various factors influencing nutrition education and dietary choices among adolescent girls. In the light of the above, the study recommended among others that, government, parents, schools, and communities collaborate to address nutritional issues among adolescent students in public schools.