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Background: Adolescents at boarding schools encounter organized food conditions that may affect dietary quality and, if inadequate, elevate the risk of long-term health issues. This study aimed to analyze Determinants of Diet Quality among Islamic Boarding School Adolescents.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 153 teenagers attending a boarding school was carried out. Based on important food group components, a composite diet quality score was used to evaluate the quality of the diet. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data on sociodemographic traits, health-related variables, fasting habits, and monthly allowance. To find factors influencing food quality, bivariate relationships were examined using Pearson correlation tests and then multiple linear regression using a stepwise method.
Results: Overall, the mean total diet quality score was 42.95 ± 2.82, which, according to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) classification applied in this study (poor <51; moderate 51–80; good >80), indicates a poor or unhealthy diet quality among the boarding school adolescents. A Pearson correlation analysis found that a strong negative correlation was observed between sex and type of school (r = −0.767, p < 0.01), indicating a high degree of collinearity between these variables, which was considered in subsequent multivariate analyses. In a multivariate analysis, nutrition quality was significantly predicted by sex (β = 0.362, p < 0.05) and school type (β = 0.831, p < 0.01). Other characteristics that had little influence on diet quality were food allergies, medical history, fasting habits, age, and monthly allowance. The final regression model explained 31.5% of the variation in the diet quality scores.
Conclusion: Diet quality among boarding school teenagers remains inadequate, and it is strongly impacted by school type and gender. These findings emphasize the relevance of school-based nutrition policy and gender-sensitive interventions for improving food quality in boarding school settings.
