The Effect of Balanced Nutrition Education on Increasing the Knowledge of Students at SMP Negeri 40 Medan

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of rapid growth that demands optimal nutritional intake; however, limited nutritional knowledge often contributes to unbalanced dietary choices and the emergence of the double burden of malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. This study aimed to analyse the effect of balanced-nutrition education on the improvement of nutritional knowledge among students at SMP Negeri 40 Medan. A quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was employed at SMP Negeri 40 Medan. A total of 122 students (68 female and 54 male) were recruited through total sampling. A single session of balanced-nutrition education was delivered through lectures and interactive discussions supported by presentation media. Nutritional knowledge was measured before and after the intervention using a structured questionnaire and analysed with a paired t-test in SPSS. The mean knowledge score increased significantly from 62.4 ± 10.8 to 82.1 ± 9.6 (p < 0.001). The proportion of students with good knowledge rose from 24.6% to 70.5%, while no student remained in the poor-knowledge category after the intervention. School-based balanced-nutrition education is effective in improving adolescents’ nutritional knowledge and holds strong potential as a promotive strategy to prevent adolescent nutritional problems. Nutrition education should be integrated continuously into School Health programmes to achieve long-term changes in adolescent eating behaviour.