Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of food hygiene among schools students' in Majmaah city, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE To determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of food hygiene among primary, intermediate and high school students and explore association, if any, with socio-demographic differences. METHODS The observational cross-sectional study was conducted at boy's schools in Majmaah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from February to May 2014. Data was collected using stratified random sampling technique from students aged 8-25 year. Two schools from each level (primary, intermediate and high school) were randomly selected and data was collected from the selected schools using simple random sampling method. A self-administered modified Sharif and Al-Malki questionnaire for knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene was used with Arabic translation. RESULTS The mean age of 377 male students in the study was 14.53±2.647 years. Knowledge levels was less in primary school students compared to high school students (p=0.026). Attitude level was high in primary school students compared to intermediate school students (p< 0.001). No significant difference was observed between groups with regard to practice levels (p=0.152). CONCLUSIONS The students exhibited good practice levels, despite fair knowledge and attitude levels.