Original scientific paper
Impact of a Nutrition Intervention Program on the Growth and Nutritional Status of Nicaraguan Adolescent Girls
Lisa Renee Pawloski
Jean Burley Moore
Abstract
This research examines the impact of a nutrition education intervention program on the nutritional status and knowledge
of Nicaraguan adolescent girls. Anthropometric measurements, hemoglobin values, and data concerning nutritional
knowledge were collected from adolescent girls living in Managua, Nicaragua. Using a pre-test/post-test design,
data are compared prior to and after the nutrition intervention program. When using Mexican American reference data,
statistically significant differences in height-for-age z-scores and weight-for-age z-scores were found when comparing the
entire sample of baseline data with data collected after three years of the nutrition intervention program (p<0.05). Significant
improvement was also found concerning the indicators of nutritional knowledge (p<0.05). However, hemoglobin
data revealed a significant decrease which may be due to specific environmental factors and pubertal changes. This research
has implications concerning the development of successful adolescent focused nutrition intervention programs in
Nicaragua, and examines the possibility that catch-up growth occurs during adolescence.
Keywords
nutrition education; adolescent girls; Nicaragua; growth; hemoglobin
Hrčak ID:
27395
URI
Publication date:
10.4.2007.
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