Identifying Nutrition and Health-Relevant Behaviors, Beliefs, and Values of School-Going Adolescent Girls in Rural Bangladesh: Context for Interventions

BACKGROUND: Focusing on adolescent schoolgirls in rural Bangladesh, this study aimed to describe the nutrition-relevant context required for effective intervention planning. It included attention to dietary behaviors, daily schedules and activities, and girls’ beliefs and values. We placed a special emphasis on iron because anemia has been identified as a significant problem in adolescent girls in Bangladesh. OBJECTIVES: The study was undertaken to inform a larger project to develop a replicable model for integrating nutrition activities into the multiple social programs in BRAC, a large nongovernmental service delivery organization in Bangladesh. METHODS: Following an initial phase of exploratory key informant interviewing, data collection was conducted through the use of focused ethnographic methods in 2 additional phases. Phase II consisted of in-depth interviews with school-going adolescents in rural communities in Rangpur District (n = 23). Interview modules included sociodemographic information; a qualitative 24-h dietary recall; respondents’ concepts of “health,” “healthy foods,” and “anemia”; exposure to nutrition messages and ratings of their importance and feasibility; and actions to maintain health. In phase III, ratings and other data were collected systematically from a separate sample of 20 adolescent girls. Analyses included thematic analysis of transcribed and translated text and quantitative analysis of numeric data. RESULTS: Key findings include evidence that school-going girls consume a variety of foods and have substantial knowledge about good health and nutrition practices. However, we also found beliefs and practices that challenge the development of nutritionally sound food practices, including iron nutrition. The study revealed the importance of teachers and mothers as information sources, and the dietary and cultural roles of purchased snacks, which occur in connection with school attendance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, together with insights about girls’ values, particularly conceptions related to “a healthy life,” have implications for expanding BRAC activities to support the nutrition of adolescent school girls.