NEVENA PANDŽA*¹, IRENA COLIĆ BARIĆ², SINIŠA SREČEC³

*Corresponding author

1. Ortiješ 10, 88 000 Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Pierottijeva 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
3. Križevci College of Agriculture, M. Demerca 1, 48 260 Križevci, Croatia

Abstract

Persons who provide nutrition education recognize that various factors influence the eating habits of adolescents. Nutrition knowledge has a positive influence on choosing adequate nutrition.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutrition knowledge and the average calcium intake in high school students in Mostar and Zagreb and to compare the anthropometric and dietetic parameters between them.
On 20 questions about the diet, the average number of correct answers of all subjects was 8, while the students from Zagreb had a significantly higher number of correct answers compared to the students from Mostar. The average calcium intake in all subjects was 1285.55 mg, which is below, but very close to the recommendations for adolescents- 1300 mg / day.

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period in life that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood and is characterized by numerous physiological, psychological and sociological changes (1). Due to intensive body growth and development, adolescents have increased nutritional needs. That makes them a very sensitive group prone to a non adequate nutrition. Energy requirements vary and depend on body mass, height, sex, age and activity (2).

During adolescence humans get 75% more body height, 50% more body mass and 40% more bone mass that we have in adulthood (3). Persons who educate about nutrition realize that knowledge about nutrition, body image, food choice, parent’s education, the media, social norms, fast food restaurants and personal experiences affect adolescent’s nutritional habits. Knowledge about nutrition has a positive effect on the choice of the right nutrition (4).

It is very important to inform children while they are young as well as to introduce healthy nutritional habits in order for them to have healthy nutritional preferences. Individual nutrition choices relate directly to the knowledge about nutrition that an indiv ...