@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-2150    Journal of Education and Community Health 2019;6(3):153-159

Background
… [1-3]. Global statistics show that about a quarter of the US population uses fast food restaurants [4-6].
Previous Studies
Studies on the effect of education on students' knowledge and nutritional performance in Torbat Heydariyeh and Birjand indicated that education can improve students' nutrition awareness and performance [7, 8]. In a study conducted to evaluate the constructs of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on preventive behaviors of consumption of low-value snacks in elementary students showed that increasing the level of attitude can be effective in reducing the consumption of low-value snacks [9].
Aim(s)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of training based on TPB on using fast food in students of Sanandaj high schools for girls.
Research type
This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design with control group.
Research society, place and time
This study was performed on 160 female students of Sanandaj vocational school.
Sampling method and number
The sampling method was cluster random sampling. At first, the list of Sanandaj vocational schools for girls was prepared and four schools (two clusters as intervention group and two clusters as control group) were selected by simple random method (there are 8 girls' vocational schools in Sanandaj). In each selected vocational school, one class was randomly selected from each grade and finally 40 students were selected (80 students for the control and 80 students for the intervention groups). Inclusion criteria included physical and mental health (according to the student's report) and willingness to participate in the study and the exclusion criteria included no participation in training classes and being absent for one session.
Used devices&materials
Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, which its validity and reliability were measured by the relevant experts. To design the questionnaire, the content of the junk food consuption questionnaire by Barati et al. due to the same used theory was used. The content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) indices were calculated, eliminating one question in the abstract norms section with negative CVR coefficient identified as unnecessary by experts, the questions were reduced from 73 to 72. The overall validity of the questionnaire was 0.84. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.87 based on Cronbach's alpha test. Training in the intervention group was conducted in three one-hour sessions per week. Through the sessions, 30-min lecture and slide instruction, 15-min film and video watching, and 15-min question-and-answer training between the lecturers and students were performed. Educational package included the "Junk Foods and unwholesome Drinks" by Dr. Mohammad Ali Daryai and also the brochure and researcher-made educational poster adapted from this book as well as a researcher-made educational film [10]. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software and descriptive statistics (absolute and relative frequency, mean and standard deviation) and independent t-test and chi-square test.
Findings by Text
All students were between 16 and 17 years old. 96.9% of mothers were housewives and 3.1% were employed. Only 3.1% of the mothers and 5.0% of the fathers had college education and 48.7% of fathers had Non-governmental jobs and 27.5% were workers. Mean age of mothers in the intervention and control groups was 41.9 ± 6.2 and 42.3 ± 6.1 years, respectively and the mean age of fathers in the intervention and control groups was 46.1 ± 6.5 and 7.7 ± 5.8 years, respectively. There was no significant difference between two groups in terms of demographic variables, including age, education and parents' occupation, and major and both groups were homogeneous (p> 0.05; Table 1). Before intervention, mean scores of awareness and performance were significantly different between the control and intervention groups (p = 0.001), however no significant difference was found between attitude, abstract norms, perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention between the control and intervention groups (p> 0.05). After intervention, the mean of all studied constructs in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group (p <0.05; Table 2).
Main comparison to the similar studies
... [11, 12]. The results of the study showed that the educational program was effective in increasing the awareness of students about reducing the consumption of junk food. A study by Ratcliffe et al. in San Francisco on high school students [13] and also a study by Domitresko et al. in Turkey on medical students [14] showed that the educational program increases awareness of eating healthy foods. However, Mirkimi et al. study in Gorgan on high school students regarding the factors affecting fast food consumption [15] showed that the educational program did not have an effect on increasing awareness toward eating healthy foods. ... [16-23]. The results of the Yabansi et al. study in Ankara on 12- to 18-year-old students on the effect of mothers' knowledge and attitude on their children's nutritional behaviors [24] and a study by Seo et al. on children and adolescents on factors affecting fast food consumption in middle school based on TPB [25] were in agreement with the results of the present study and showed the effect of education on increasing abstract norms. ... [26-31].
Suggestions
It is recommended that future studies be conducted to improve the performance of students in reducing junk food consumption.
Limitations
The lack of practical classes and the inability of trained students to visit processed food factories, which are a major component of junk foods was one of the limitations of this study.
Conclusions
TPB-based training is effective in increasing students' awareness, attitude, abstract norms, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and performance in reducing junk food consumption.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Sanandaj school authorities, district one, as well as to the Deputy of Research and Technology of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
This study was registered at the Research Council of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, IR.MUK.REC.1397/334.
Funding Sources
This research was funded by the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences Research and Technology Vice-Chancellor.

TABLES and CHARTS

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