ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1440634
This article is part of the Research TopicHow School Health and Nutrition Interventions are Reshaping the Global Public Health NarrativeView all 13 articles
Improving Nutritional Status and Health Outcomes in School-Going Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Nutrition and WASH Education Interventions in Gojra, Pakistan
Provisionally accepted
- 1Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan
- 2Aga Khan University, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
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The presence of both undernutrition and over-nutrition within a population is termed the double burden of malnutrition. Among school-going adolescents, prevalent micronutrient deficiencies are iron, iodine, vitamin A, and zinc. This study examined the effect of a school-based nutrition and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) education on low body mass index (BMI;<18.5kg/m 2 ) and malnutrition symptoms among adolescents in Gojra. A randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 603 participants from grades 6 to 8, with 321 in the intervention group and 282 in the control group. Pre-and post-intervention assessments included validated questionnaire. blood tests, anthropometric measurements, BMI evaluations and clinical assessments were performed to identify biochemical markers and cases of malnutrition. Following the intervention, a slight decrease in average BMI was observed (from 16.7 to 16.2 in boys and 18.5 to 17.6 in girls).Stunting increased in the control group but remained stable among intervention group of boys and showed only a slight rise in girls. Clinical improvement was noted in indicators such as hair, nails, eyes, and teeth, although biomarkers remained largely unchanged.In conclusion, the school-based intervention had a positive effect on clinical nutritional indicators and helped prevent further deterioration of nutritional status. While BMI and biomarkers showed minimal changes, the visible health improvements highlight the potential of integrated school health program to address the dual burden of malnutrition in adolescents.
Keywords: adolescents, biomarkers, Body Mass Index, clinical assessment, nutrition, Schools
Received: 29 May 2024; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Perveen, Karmaliani, Mistry and Barolia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shagufta Perveen, Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan
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