BMJ Open · 4 authors, 3 centres
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A school-based cross-sectional study of 834 preparatory school students in Ethiopia found that only 24.7% had good-quality diets as assessed by dietary diversity score, food variety score, and animal-source food consumption. Being female, urban, having an educated mother, pocket money, nutrition information, and higher household income were significantly associated with better diet quality.
This cross-sectional study assessed diet quality and associated factors among 834 preparatory school students in Awi Zone, Ethiopia. Diet quality was measured using dietary diversity score (DDS), food variety score (FVS), and animal-source food (ASF) consumption. Students with high DDS, appropriate ASF consumption, and adequate FVS were classified as having good-quality diets. Only 24.7% (95% CI: 21.7%, 27.7%) of students had good-quality diets. Additionally, 34.9% had diversified food intake, 39.8% had adequate food variety, and 30.2% had appropriate ASF consumption. Limitations include potential social desirability bias from self-reported data and inability to generalize to out-of-school adolescents. The findings underscore the need for targeted nutrition education considering students' sociodemographic characteristics.
