Poor dietary habits among adolescents could cause serious health conditions in adulthood. Skill-based health education seems to be more effective than structured educational methods in increasing knowledge, changing attitudes, and improving dietary behavior among adolescents. This study aimed to assess the effects of a skills-based healthy diet education program on female adolescents' dietary knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. This was a randomized trial study on 80 female students of two randomly selected public female high schools in Tehran, Iran. The participants were randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. The intervention group underwent a skills-based educational program and the control group educated by a conventional lecture method. The demographic questionnaires were completed before the intervention and the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) questionnaires were completed three times: before, immediately after, and two months following the interventions. Data was analyzed using SPSS 21 and Repeated Measure ANOVA (RMANOVA), t-test, Mann–Whitney, Fishers exact test, and Chi Square. The knowledge increased significantly in both groups after the educational programs (p < .001). The behaviors were significantly improved only in the skills-based-education group after the intervention (p < .001). In both follow-up phases, knowledge and behaviors were significantly higher in the intervention group comparing to the control group (p < .05). Skills-based health education is more effective than routine lecture method on dietary behaviors of female adolescent. Therefore, these methods are recommended for promoting of healthy dietary behaviors.

Trial Registration IRCT201311278801N6, 2013, Iranian registry of Clinical Trial.

青少年不良的饮食习惯可能会导致成年后的严重健康状况。在增加知识、改变态度和改善青少年饮食行为方面，以技能为基础的健康教育似乎比结构化教育方法更有效。本研究旨在评估基于技能的健康饮食教育计划对女性青少年饮食知识、态度和行为的影响。这是一项针对伊朗德黑兰两所随机选择的公立女子高中的 80 名女学生的随机试验研究。参与者被随机分配到干预组和对照组。干预组接受了基于技能的教育计划，而对照组接受了传统的讲座方法教育。人口统计问卷在干预前完成，知识、态度和实践 (KAP) 问卷完成 3 次：干预前、干预后和干预后两个月。使用 SPSS 21 和重复测量方差分析 (RMANOVA) 分析数据，t检验、Mann-Whitney、Fishers 精确检验和卡方检验。教育计划后，两组的知识显着增加（p  < .001）。干预后仅技能教育组的行为显着改善（p  < .001）。在两个随访阶段，干预组的知识和行为均显着高于对照组（p  < .05）。以技能为基础的健康教育对女性青少年的饮食行为比常规讲座更有效。因此，这些方法被推荐用于促进健康的饮食行为。

试验注册IRCT201311278801N6，2013，伊朗临床试验注册。