Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANTS RICH JUICE ON NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND FOOD HABITS OF COLLEGE GOING GIRLS, RAIPUR CHHATTISGARH

Dr. Savita Bhoi* and Dr. Gopa Sharma

Abstract

Background: College going girls are very important segment of our society especially as a youth population of our country. Positive health of this segment is essential for proper development of country. In India 57.5% girls are suffering from major health problems like anemia, CVD, low immunity power and low physical fitness due to malnutrition, unhygienic environment and lack of knowledge about nutrition. Objectives: The present study was carried out to develop an antioxidant rich drink using tomato, carrot and beet root and supplement it to college going girls and portray their demographic profile, impact of drink on nutritional status and physical fitness. Methodology: A cross sectional study, using food frequency questionnaire and anthropometry measurements was carried out to elicit the data. 200 college going girls (100 as experimental and100 as control group) were purposively selected from the hostel. Fruit veggie juice was developed using tomato, carrot and beet root and supplemented to anemic girls (experimental group) for three months. The impact of fruit-veggie juice supplementation was evaluated by using anthropometric indices height, weight, BMI, MUAC, and skin fold thickness during pre and post intervention period. Results: Overall findings reveals that supplementation of antioxidant juice improved the nutritional status of college going girls. We found positive relationship between existing nutrition knowledge and nutrition education on dietary habits of college going girls.

Keywords: College going girls, nutritional status, BMI, MUAC, skin fold thickness.