Knowledge Gap on Balanced Diet: A Pilot Study on Adolescents in North India

Responses to the Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire for 71 respondents recruited for a pilot study in northern India. The aim of the study was to assess the Knowledge level of adolescent girls in a school setting via a validated questionnaire. A Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire (KAQ) consisting of of 21 multiple‑choice questions. Demographic details such as age, annual family income of a family, education of father and mother, and type of family composed of Part 1. Part 2 included 4 sections related to balanced eating, the importance and sources of various food groups and questions related to anemia. The data shows the answers given by each respondent to every question. The data was gathered by administering the KAQ to the students and they were not allowed to refer to any source before answering the questions. The correct answer was given 1 mark while 0 was given for the Don't know/incorrect answer. This knowledge scoring resulted in a score ranging between 0-16. The scores were divided as, Poor – “0-4”, Average- “5-8”, Good- “9-12”, Excellent “13-16” and are mentioned under "Knowledge_Level". The headings Q1cat, Q2cat, and so on depict the scores given after scoring. The title "Score" depcits the total score of the respondent. The data interpretation was that the majority of the respondents scored below the average score. This data can be used to study the relationship between dependent and independent variables, differences in average and mean scores scored by respondents and so on.