Consumption pattern of healthy and non healthy (junk) foods by obese and non-obese adolescent girls (13–18 years) belonging to Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India

The present study was aimed to determine the frequency of intake of various healthy foods (such as fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, pulses and other non vegetarian foods) and non-healthy foods (all the junk foods rich in trans fats such as burgers, soft drinks, potato chips, etc.) as well as nutrients by adolescent girls. Dietary intake was assessed by the standardized methods of dietary assessment i.e., food frequency method and 24 h diet recall method. Samples were taken from various government and private schools of Srinagar city of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Food frequency pattern showed that obese adolescent girls consumed significantly greater number of snack items compared to the non obese girls (p < 0.05). Moreover, consumption of healthy foods such as fruits and pulses was found to be very less in both obese and non-obese girls. A significant difference in the nutritional intake of obese and non-obese adolescent girls was observed. The results indicated that a dolescents did not follow healthy eating practices. Health and nutrition education interventions brought about a highly significant improvement in the nutritional knowledge of the adolescent girls