Telenutrition health education program to increase nutritional awareness, attitude, and dietary diversity among secondary high school adolescent girls in rural area of Bangladesh: A quasi-experimental study protocol.

BACKGROUND

Telenutrition, using telehealth technologies for remote nutritional care, has proven effective in primary care. Nutritional deficiencies constitute a global health burden, characterized by chronic undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, especially in adolescent girls in impoverished nations such as Bangladesh. Telenutrition, which uses digital technologies to provide remote nutritional treatment, is a promising strategy to decrease this burden. This study aims to determine the impact of telenutrition education on improving nutritional awareness, attitude, and dietary diversity among school going adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A school-based quasi-experimental study was conducted among 190 adolescent girls (95 intervention, 95 control) from two higher secondary schools in Sakhipur, Bangladesh. Schools were allocated into intervention and control groups using a coin toss method to reduce selection bias and to mitigate the risk of contamination of health education information among students within the same school. Interviewers used structured questionnaires to gather baseline data on socio-demographic traits, nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices, dietary diversity, food hygiene, sanitation, and menstrual hygiene. The intervention group received six months of nutrition-focused education, covered video sessions, text messages, and follow-up phone calls, while the control group received no intervention. The primary outcome of this study is changes in nutritional awareness, attitudes, and practice scores among adolescents. Additionally, secondary outcomes include improvements in dietary diversity and changes in BMI, hip-waist circumference, and MUAC that will be compared across groups over time. The effects of the intervention will be evaluated over time using mixed-effects models in STATA 18.5.

RESULTS

Data analysis will commence after implementation collection, with findings prepared for publication.

CONCLUSION

Telenutrition education is expected to effectively enhance knowledge and promote healthy behaviors among adolescent girls. Digital health programs, policy-driven approaches, and school-based nutrition education are essential for improving nutritional awareness.