| Today’s girls are tomorrow mothers, hence the period of youth is considered a golden period for promoting nutritional awareness to improve the health of the next generation. This research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of e-learning on nutritional awareness and weekly frequency of food consumption in high school female students. Additionally, family income was investigated to determine if it had any influence. A semi-experimental method was used, with 50 female students (two classes with 25 students) in public high schools in Tabriz, Iran. An awareness form, with 20 questions related to awareness of correct nutrition principles for their age group, was completed by the students.
Then, weekly frequency of food groups was measured in the studied group, along with mean and standard deviation. Training of correct and balanced nutrition was carried out by a nutritionist with educational movies (e-learning). Three weeks after training, the participants re completed the food frequency questionnaire and awareness scores. The food groups which had a significant correlation with annual income per capita (Pearson correlation) were chosen as comparison criterion for before and after training courses. For observation of the difference in awareness scores and food consumption frequency before and after the training periods, the mean of awareness and consumption frequency was compared by Independent sample T-test (95% confidence level). The weekly frequency mean of cereal and junk food consumption before learning was the highest while bean consumption was the lowest. The mean of the student awareness scores increased significantly after training (p < 0.001), as well as the mean frequency of dairy and vegetable consumption (p < 0.001). The mean frequency of bread and snack consumption significantly decreased after training (p < 0.001). The mean frequency of rice and potato consumption decrease but not significantly, and the mean frequency of meat and fruit consumption increased but not significantly. The results of this study suggest that nutrition training programs can be effective in improving nutritional performance, although education and enhancing of awareness of the members of society is most effective when the income is distributed fairly among the families. |