Eating Habits of Teenagers in the Schools of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Aim: Healthy diet is essential for adolescents to meet the nutritional demands of the growing body. Poor dietary habits jeopardize health and affect the ability to learn, concentrate and perform in school. The aim of this study was to analyze the eating habits of teenagers (13-19 years of age) in the urban and peri-urban schools of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea in order to determine the food frequency and quality of daily diet intake. Methodology: A self-administered questionnaire consisted of 58 items on the demographic characteristics, dietary habits and food frequency was distributed to teenagers in the schools. Out of 540 questionnaires issued 512 received in which 446 were completed giving a response rate of 87 percent. The collected data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 19.0). The frequency and descriptive analysis were included in the data analysis. Results: A majority of (58%) adolescents had breakfast daily. The lunch was regular among (48%) adolescents. All respondents (100%) had dinner regularly. About 33% adolescents had energy yielding foods thrice, 42.4% had body building foods once, 28.7% had 3 fruits, and 5.2% had five vegetables a day. Conclusion: A high number of adolescents were irregular in eating breakfast, mid-morning snack and lunch. This study recommended adolescents to have three balanced meals and 3 snacks regularly and advised schools to administer Nutrition Education classes. Limitation of this study was the quantity of food consumed daily not assessed which may be considered by future study