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Background: Anemia and obesity are significant public health challenges among adolescents, often linked to inadequate nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Educational interventions targeting these factors may play a crucial role in improving adolescent health outcomes. Objective: To determine the impact of a nutrition education program on the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and dietary practices, anthropometric parameters and hemoglobin in Peruvian adolescents. Methods: A pre-experimental study was conducted among Peruvian adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age from an educational institution located in eastern Lima, Peru. Body mass index/age (BMI/age), waist circumference (WC), hemoglobin (Hb) levels, and a self-reported questionnaire were assessed. A nutrition education intervention was conducted for 16 weeks. Results: After the implementation of the program, a significant improvement in knowledge scores (84.4%, p < 0.001), attitudes (59.1%, p < 0.001), and practices (47.7%, p < 0.001) scores was observed. BMI/age scores decreased by 3.1% ( p < 0.001). Similarly, WC scores showed a significant decrease of 1.0% ( p < 0.001). Hb levels increased significantly by 3.25% ( p < 0.001) in women, but not in men. Conclusion: This study showed that nutrition education programs could improve knowledge, attitudes, and dietary practices, BMI/age, WC, and Hb scores in Peruvian adolescents. Keywords: nutrition education, adolescents, anemia, obesity, knowledge, attitudes, dietary practices, body mass index, waist circumference, hemoglobin
Vasquez-Mamani et al. (Sat,) studied this question.