Knowledge, Attitude and Nutritional Behavior of Female High School Students about Consumption of Calcium-Rich Foods in Khorramshahr City, South West of Iran

Background: Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body. This mineral is provided only by the consumption of foods containing calcium that it is recommended to use at least 1300 mg daily for adults. This study is aimed to investigate the nutritional behavior of female high school students about Consumption of Calcium-Rich Foods. Materials and Methods At a descriptive-analytical study, the method of sampling was based on multi-stage random clustering that 168 students were selected from 3 school (each school 56 female students). The data were collected by a research-made questionnaire containing questions in 4 parts including: the demographic features, the knowledge and attitude of students about consumption of calcium-rich foods and the fourth part included semi-quantitative food frequency table (FFQ) that was taught to the subjects and the correct understanding of the education was evaluated. The data were analyzed by SPSS-17. Results: The mean age of girls participated was 16 +/- 0.738 years. There were significant relationship between all demographic variables such as job, education and monthly income and consumption of calcium-rich foods (P<0.05). The knowledge of students about Consumption of Calcium-Rich Foods were 28% (poor), 50.6% (moderate) and 21.4% (good) respectively; and attitude of them were: 29.2%(poor), 47.6% (moderate) and 23.3% (good) respectively. Moreover, 57.1% of the students had not consumed enough calcium in their regimes. There was a significant correlation between students attitudes and their behavior of the consumption of calcium-rich foods (P<0.05; r=0.181). Conclusion: The current study indicated that in female students, the improvement of students' attitude and knowledge about consumption of calcium-rich foods can be achieved using focused group discussion and suitable education. According to the results of this study, students' knowledge and attitude of students about consumption of calcium-rich foods are not acceptable.