EVALUATION OF THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS AT PREPARATORY SCHOOLS IN PORT SAIDCITY

Background: Adolescence is a transitional period from childhood to adulthood, and it occupies a vital position in a person's life. nutrition of adolescents is important, where changes in growth and hormones, activity and food intake are found. Study aimed to evaluate nutritional status of the adolescence students at preparatory schools in Port Said city. Design: A descriptive research design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted at Port Said preparatory schools. Subjects: stratified random sampling consisted of 390 adolescents whom selected from above mentioned settings. Tools: Data were collected using two tools; Structured Interview Questionnaire and Health Assessment sheet. Results: It showed that majority of adolescent students have satisfactory knowledge of carbohydrates/calories and balanced diet, and less than half of adolescent students report that the total scores of diet and eating habits are sufficient. Conclusion: two-thirds of adolescent students score satisfactory on diet and health knowledge, less than two-thirds of adolescent students are undernourished. Most adolescent students have a normal body mass index, while 3.6% of adolescent students are overweight. Recommendations : A health education program should be implemented for preparatory students to understand proper nutrition and health problems caused by insufficient dietary intake.