Peer-reviewed article
Design and implementation of a theory of planned behavior-based nutrition education intervention for adolescent girls in rural Nepal: a school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial.
Bhandari TR, Paudel S, Chapagain N, Thapa YO, Nagila A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper describes the design and implementation of a school-based nutrition education program (NEIPH) for adolescent girls in rural Nepal, focusing on improving dietary behaviors and reducing anemia. The study is a randomized controlled trial with 200 girls aged 12-15 years from 19 schools, comparing an intervention group receiving two interactive education sessions over one month with a control group receiving standard educational materials. The intervention uses theory of planned behavior and teach-back methods to reinforce nutrition concepts. The trial is currently ongoing with no outcome data yet analyzed.
Key points
- Anemia affects nearly one-quarter of individuals aged 10-24 years globally, with high burden in resource-constrained settings like Nepal
- The intervention consisted of two 60-minute interactive sessions incorporating multimedia presentations, role-play, group discussions, and teach-back exercises
- 200 adolescent girls with low serum ferritin levels (40.7-75.7 ng/mL) were enrolled across 19 public schools in Annapurna Rural Municipality
- Educational content covered balanced nutrition, dietary sources, anemia prevention, adolescent health, and menstrual hygiene
- The study combines theory of planned behavior with the teach-back method as a structured approach to enhance comprehension and promote behavioral change
Limitations
No outcome data have been analyzed as the trial is still ongoing, so this paper cannot demonstrate whether the intervention actually improves nutritional status or reduces anemia in the target population. The document provides design details only and cannot inform about effectiveness or implementation fidelity in practice.
Abstract
Adolescence is a pivotal period of physical, psychological, and cognitive development during which individuals are highly vulnerable to nutritional deficiency. Undernutrition, overweight/obesity, and anemia are prominent public health concerns in low- and middle-income countries, including Nepal. Anemia affects nearly one-quarter of individuals aged 10-24 years globally, with a disproportionately high burden in resource-constrained settings. This study primarily aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-driven school-based nutrition education intervention in improving dietary behaviors, health literacy, and nutritional status among adolescent girls in rural Nepal. This two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the effectiveness of the Nutrition Education Intervention for Promoting Health (NEIPH) program for improving the nutritional status of adolescent girls in rural Nepal. Adolescent girls (200) with low serum ferritin levels (40.7-75.7 ng/mL), enrolled in grades 7-9 across 19 public schools in Annapurna Rural Municipality, were randomly assigned to either an intervention (103 girls from nine schools) or a control (97 girls from 10 schools) group. The intervention group received two 60-min interactive education sessions over 1 month, school-based monitoring, and a standardized educational booklet. The sessions incorporated multimedia presentations, role-play activities, group discussions, and teach-back exercises to reinforce key concepts. The control group received booklets approved by the National Health Education, Information, and Communication Center. The educational content covered balanced nutrition, dietary sources, anemia prevention, adolescent health, and menstrual hygiene and was delivered using multimedia tools and participatory techniques. The NEIPH intervention is expected to be a viable approach for improving the nutritional status and reducing anemia by influencing the behaviors of adolescent girls. The combined use of the theory of planned behavior and the teach-back method represents a novel and structured approach to enhance comprehension, promote self-efficacy, and foster sustained behavioral change. The trial is currently ongoing, and no outcome data have been analyzed. This paper provides a detailed account of the theoretical framework, intervention development, and implementation procedures to promote methodological transparency and reproducibility.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Theory of planned behavior-based nutrition education intervention (NEIPH) consisting of two 60-minute interactive sessions over one month, school-based monitoring, and educational booklets, using multimedia presentations, role-play, group discussions, and teach-back exercises
- Population
- 200 adolescent girls (grades 7-9) with low serum ferritin levels (40.7-75.7 ng/mL) in rural Nepal (Annapurna Rural Municipality)
Key finding
Trial design: 200 adolescent girls with low serum ferritin randomly assigned to intervention or control groups