ABSTRACT
Background: Worldwide, more than 1.2 billion population is adolescents. Nutrition, physical activity, psychological health, and sanitations are few areas that affect adolescents, making them more vulnerable to diseases and contributing in disease burden. The present study was part of the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) school based health program Mission SHAKTTI which focused, and reported on adolescents’ awareness and health literacy about nutrition, physical activity, and sanitation in Delhi. Methods: A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted with students (aged 11-19 years), and the Mission SHAKTTI program was devised using the pillars of Gandhi’s teachings for good health. Data were collected using a pre-tested open ended questionnaire (n=1796). For data analysis, deductive approach was adopted, and thematic content analysis was done with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: The study showed that students were somewhat aware of various health-related issues pertaining to Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of health, with 49.5% (CI: 46.72-51.39) reported that Gandhiji’s mantra for staying healthy was simply a clean environment and proper sanitation. A gap between their understanding and perceptions of a balanced diet was observed, since many felt that merely eating enough food could labelled as balanced diet (36.46%; CI: 34.24-38.74). Conclusions: Findings may be useful in developing a suitable health-based educational program to inculcate knowledge about healthy practices among school-aged children through Gandhian health ideology. This may also help in forging a stronger and more aware foundation of nation leading to prevention of numerous diseases in the near future.