MATERNAL INFLUENCE AND CONSUMPTION OF PROCESSED FOODS AMONGST ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

The present cross-sectional study was conducted in Delhi-NCR among the adolescents aged 13-18 years. The results highlighted that the majority of the adolescents (80.9%) consume food from outside atleast twice a week. Around 80-90% adolescents consume ultra-processed foods and soft drinks and a lesser percentage preferred sweet foods. Majority(80.5%) of the adolescents prefer eating outside when mothers are not at home. Majority (94.5%) of the mothers used encouraging statements to enhance the consumption of healthy foods. Furthermore, a small portion (17%) of the mothers always talked to their children in concern of their eating habits and few (11%) of mothers never talked to their child regarding their eating habits. A weak though positive and statistically significant correlation (p