Assessment of Dietary Behaviour and its Relationship with Body Mass Index among Junior High School Girls in Kerman during 2012-2013

Breakfast as a main meal of the day, provides energy and important nutrients and it is a crutial food behavior. Considering the importance of this meal and its effect on health, this study aimed to assess dietary behavior and its relationship with Body Mass Index of junior high school girls in Kerman during 2012-2013.
In this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional sudy, 809 junior high school girls were selected using cluster randomized sampling and evaluated. General and nutritional data was gathered by a questionnaire. Anthropometric indices were measured by using standard instruments. SPSS 17 was used for data analysis through descriptive statistics and the chi-square test.
The mean age of subjects was13.5±0.71 years. Fifty five and a half percent of the subjects ate breakfast at least 3 times a week and 28.5% ate breakfast every day. Twelve percent of subjects did not eat breakfast. Morning snack consumption was observed in 97.8% at least 3 times a week. Mean Body Mass Index of participants was 20.17± 4.06 kg/m2. Based on CDC criteria, underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity was observed in 9.8%, 57.5%, 18.9 % and 13.8 %, respectively. A significant correlation was found between students’body Mass Index with morning snack consumption (P=0.004), mothers’ job (P=0.019) and parents’ Body Mass Index (P The study results emphasize on more parental supervision especially among employed mothers and parents with overweight and obesity on the kind of food consumption in the morning snack of children.