ABSTRACT
A health education program for cancer risk reduction was conducted among 649 students out of 896 for whom Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) had been obtained at the initial study. Three hundred and sixteen students acted as the intervented group and three hundred and thirty three were the control group. There was a great improvement in the percentage of correct knowledge answers in the majority of the questions from pre to post tests especially for the questions about the effect of excessive use of fatty foods (76.3%) and excessive use of salty foods (68.0%) on the occurrence of cancer. After the program, at least 87% or more of the students recognized the hazards of risky food, 86.1% knew that mothers who do not breast feed their infants have a greater chance of getting cancer breast, 51.3% responded correctly to the question about the effect of oral contraceptive pills after 40 years. More than 86% recognized the serious effect of prolonged exposure to the sun. A significant shift toward positive attitude was found especially with the item "I am very afraid to know that I have cancer, so I avoid going to the physician" (76.9%). It was found that 94% of the students agreed that there is a relation between the type of food and cancer. The students showed significant increases in median practice scores from pre to post tests and the larger gain associated with participants in the program (9.97%). The majority of the students reported increases in their daily consumption of fruits, cereals, leafy vegetables and salad. These significant changes in KAP scores from pre to post tests were noticed for both sexes, different social classes and different educational grades.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Health Education/organization & administration , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Neoplasms/prevention & control , School Health Services/organization & administration , Students/psychology , Causality , Child , Curriculum , Diet , Educational Measurement , Egypt , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Health Behavior , Humans , Life Style , Male , Neoplasms/etiology , Program Evaluation , Risk Reduction Behavior , Social Class , Surveys and Questionnaires , Urban HealthABSTRACT
Cancer is a serious public health issue, but it is increasingly regarded as preventable. The present study was conducted to assess students' knowledge, attitude and practice about cancer. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers and completed by 896 secondary school students from the middle zone of Alexandria Governorate. Females had a significantly higher awareness than males as regards the relationship between not eating vegetables and fruits, environmental effects, exposure to irradiation or to the sun for long periods and the hazards of getting cancer. Third grade students were significantly more knowledgeable than the other two grades (H=11.43, p<0.01). Only 4.5% of the participants had satisfactory levels of knowledge. Students in general expressed strong fear of cancer. Females were more worried than males either about themselves getting cancer or about others having it. More than 50% of the females liked to be friendly with children having cancer as compared to 37% of males. Only 12.3% of the students had a positive attitude towards cancer prevention. Males tended to consume healthier foods than females. Furthermore, 57% of the students demonstrated good practice. School education on cancer is extremely needed for these adolescents in order to correct misconceptions, provide accurate information and to develop a positive attitude towards cancer.
Subject(s)
Health Education , Neoplasms/epidemiology , Neoplasms/prevention & control , Adolescent , Attitude to Health , Behavior , Female , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Life Style , Male , Models, Statistical , Risk , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
A study of 1134 preparatory-school pupils was conducted to measure children's self-efficacy for selecting healthy food for the heart, to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and self-reported usual food consumption and to estimate test-retest reliability. Results revealed an acceptable estimate of internal consistency of dietary self-efficacy [Cronbach alpha = 0.76]. Over half the students exhibited a moderate level of self-efficacy and 42% a high level. Test-retest reliability of the scale was good [r = 0.65, Cronbach alpha = 0.79]. Usual food choice was the first best predictor of dietary self-efficacy [r = 0.44], followed by sex [boys had higher self-efficacy than girls] and then knowledge [r = 0.37].The three factors contributed to explain 25% of the variance
