Eating Habits of Students - Essay Example

Eating Habits of Students 1. Introduction The importance of a healthy lifestyle is inevitable. A good and healthy lifestyle starts with the diet one takes (Bailey, 2007 ). A blend of calorie intake together with fruit and vegetable comsumption, as part of the diet, is advisable in ensuring a balanced diet. It helps prevent lifestyle related disorders and diseases (MacClanccy, Henry, & Macbeth, 2009). Strict dietary guidelines help maintain a healthy diet and avoid the big gap in dietary divide experienced today by many peolple. The prevelent short life span emanates from the wrong choice of diet that end up affecting our health (Shepherd & Raats 2006). The young generation seems to pay little attention to the crucial topic on diet and health. Their choice of diet remains a secondary consideration in their responsibility over their health (Gullotta, Adams & Ramos 2005). Dietary disorders among young people are on the rise at an alarming rate. Instances of obesity in young people are increasing more than ever experienced. According to Richards, 2007, guiding the young generation on issues of diet and health become essential. Topics such as the choice of food, awareness of a good balanced diet and the need to create attention to nutrition among by young people need further elaboration. Teaching the youth on diet and health, therefore, is indispensably an issue most governments must consider engaging (Berg 2002). Statistics in the United Kingdom show that several school going students have poor knowledge on diet and health (McGinnis & Gootman 2006). Several students express low attention to nutrition. The choice of a better diet by students is poorly in several students (Glass 2009). In what areas many students pay less attention to, as far as diet and health is concerned, this report sorts to find out. The report discusses the important dietary areas overlooked by students and their extent of caution to their health. 2. Method In order to find out the eating habits of students, a survey was conducted with the help of an oral questionnaire. Total 30 randomly selected students in the UK took the interview in different learning institutions for the purpose of representing the student population. The group of respondents composed of students from different learning institutions at different stages of studies. The respondents consisted of fifteen boys and fifteen girls. The questionnaire (attached in the appendix) consists of different kinds of questions which chiefly build upon each other. The question types used is, for example, “yes/no”, multiple choice and ranking questions. In addition, some questions require the respondents stating their own opinion or telling more about their own experiences. While the questionnaire is not plainly segmented, it focuses on one major topic of health and diet. The questionnaire consists of seventeen (17) questions. The first question asks about the respondent’s gender. The second question asks about the frequency of meals taken by students per day. The number of meals range from one (1) to four (4) per day. The third asks the opinion of the responded, whether he or she gets a balanced diet. It offers five options of response to the question. The fourth question inquires the respondent’s knowledge of a balanced diet. The fifth question asks the respondent about his or her preferred meal. It gives the respondent three options: vegetables, fruits or meat. The sixth question asks the respondent of any three types of vegetable from the list provided, should she or he have her response as vegetables in question five. The seventh question asks the respondent of which type of fruit he or she likes from the list provided, should the answer to of the respondent in question five be fruits. The eighth question asks the respondent’s preferred type of meat from the list provided, should his or her response in question five be meat. Question nine enquires the respondent’s level of attention he or she pays to his or her diet. It provides the respondent with three options: very attentive, normal attention given, or never given attention at all. The tenth question provides the respondent with three options on what he or she thinks consist a good habit. It provides the respondent with three options: to have soup before dinner, to have some fruit after dinner, or to have some dessert after dinner. Question eleven asks how often the respondent eats fruits. The respondent has four choices for this question. Whether he or she takes fruit everyday, 2-3 times a week, several times a month, or if she or he rarely or never takes fruits. The thirteenth question asks if the respondent took breakfast on the morning of the day of response. Question 14 asks of what the respondent takes in several occasions while going out for lunch with his or her office colleagues. Question fifteen asks how many glasses of water the respondent takes, daily. There are three options given to the respondent: one (1), two (2), three (3), or four (4) or more glasses of water daily. Question sixteen enquires the level of influence of nutritional information on food labelling in the grocery store on the respondent’s purchases. The last question asks how much the respondent spends totally, when she or he goes out for dinner. As the sample is limited to thirty students, the population of students is not adequately represented. The survey reveals the eating habits of students and how they feel of diet they take. It also shows the frequency of meals taken by students and their preferred meals. It shows the percentage of students who take breakfast, the level of students’ healthiness beliefs. 3. Results and discussion On account of the research topic the eating habit of students 30 UK students, (15) male and (15) female participants, all at different levels of studies. The proportion of male to female students was almost equal. It is worth noting that the responses presented were independent of the respondents’ stage of studies of the respondents. Four diagrams used to show the results were as shown: On the level agreement with the level of healthiness beliefs, 43% of the respondents expressed that they neither agree nor disagree with the level of healthiness beliefs. 30% of the respondents strongly agree with the level of healthiness beliefs. 15 % of the respondents agree with the healthiness beliefs, 7% of the respondents disagreed with the healthiness beliefs, and 5% of the respondents strongly disagree with the level of healthiness belief. This was as illustrated below: Figure 1. Level of healthiness beliefs As visualised in the pie chart (Fig, 1), many of the respondents neither agree nor disagree with the level of healthiness. A higher proportion of the students’ population, therefore, neither agrees nor disagrees with the level of healthiness belief. In an attempt to know the type of food that most of the respondents chose most, the following results came out. Half of the respondents (15 out of 30) preferred taking meat as their meal. The other 8 out of 30 of the respondents who filled the questionnaire said they preferred taking vegetable as their meal. The remaining 7 out of 30 of the respondents interviewed preferred taking fruits. This was illustrated by the bar graph below. Fig.2. The type of food people prefer most. As visualised in figure 2, many of the students chose meat as their most preferred meal. The number of students who chose fruits was lowest according to the results shown. In an enquiry to determine the respondents’ attitude towards breakfast, the following results occurred. The remaining 26% of the respondents responded to take breakfast sometimes on the morning of the day of conducting the questionnaires. The results were illustrated in fig. 3. A great percentage of the respondents did not take breakfast in the morning of the day of conducting the questionnaire. On the respondents’ attitude towards breakfast, 26% of the respondents took breakfast the morning of conducting the questionnaire. A 50% portion of the respondents did not take breakfast on the morning of the day of conducting the questionnaire. Fig. 3. Attitude toward breakfast As visualised in figure. 3, most students did not take breakfast on the morning of the day of answering the questionnaire. Half of the students did not take breakfast on the morning of the day of conducting the questionnaire. Nearly a quarter (24) of students sometimes took breakfast on the morning of the day of answering the questionnaire. Slightly more than a quarter of the students took breakfast on the morning of the day of answering the questionnaire. In an attempt to enquire how much a student would typically spend on a dinner out for two, the following results came out. 15 out of the thirty respondents would spend ￡25-￡50. 8 out of the 30 respondents would spend under ￡25. 3 out of the 30 respondents would spend ￡76-￡100 and 2 out of the 30 respondents would spend over￡100 on a dinner out. Fig. 4 Dining out-spending habits As illustrated in figure 4, 15 out of the 30 students would spend ￡25-￡50 on a dinner out. 8 out of the 30 students interviewed responded to spend under ￡25 on a dinner out. 3 out of the 30 students who filled the questionnaire responded to spend o￡76-￡100 on a dinner out. Only 2 out of 30 students who filled the questionnaire expressed that they would spend over ￡100 on a dinner out. 4. Conclusion The survey attempted to find out the eating habits of students. It attempted, how many meals they take per day, how strongly they agree that they have balanced diet, their knowledge of a balanced diet, their preferred meals and how often do they eat their preferred food. Further attempts of the survey were to ascertain the attention given to nutrition by the students, their view of a good habit, what fraction of them take breakfast, how many glasses of water they take per day, and how the nutritional information on groceries affects their purchasing. First, the report indicates that, many of students neither agree nor disagree with the level of healthiness belief. 43% of the respondents expressed they neither agree nor disagree with the level of healthiness beliefs. 30% of the respondents strongly agree with the level of healthiness beliefs. 15 % of the respondents agree with the healthiness beliefs, 7% of the respondents disagreed with the healthiness beliefs, and 5% of the respondents strongly disagree with the level of healthiness belief. Second, the report indicates that many students choose meat as their most preferred meal. The number of students who chose fruits is lowest. Half of the respondents (50 %) preferred taking meat as their meal. The other 26.67% of the respondents who filled the questionnaire said they preferred taking vegetable as their meal. The remaining 23.33 % of the respondents interviewed preferred taking fruits. The number of students who prefer taking fruits is lowest. Third, the report, most students do not take breakfast in the morning. Half of the students did not take breakfast in the morning of the day of conducting the questionnaire. Nearly a quater (24) of students was reported that sometimes they take breakfast that morning of the day of answeing the questionnaire. Only slightly more than a quater of the students took breakfast that morning. Finally, the report indicates that half of the students spend ￡25-￡50 on a dinner out. 15 out of the thirty respondents expressed that they would spend ￡25-￡50. 8 out of the 30 respondents would spend under ￡25. 3 out of the 30 respondents would spend ￡76-￡100 and 2 out of the 30 respondents would spend over￡100 on a dinner out. Table of Contents 1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 3 2. Method ………………………………………………………………………..... 4 3. Results and Discussion ……………………………………………………......... 6 4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..... 8 5. Reference List ……………………………………………………………........... 12 6. Appendix ……...….……………………………………………………………... 13 5. LIST OF REFERENCES Bailey, E, 2007, Food Choice And Obesity in Black America: Creating A New Cultural Diet, New York, NY. Berg, C, 2002, Influences on schoolchildren's dietary selection: focus on fat and fibre at breakfast, Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Goteborg, SWE. Glass, J, 2009,Consumer Preferences: The Role of Food Emotions in Food Choice. ProQuest, Ann ArBor, MI. Gullotta, T, Adams, G, & Ramos, J, 2005,Handbook Of Adolescent Behavioral Problems: Evidence-based Approaches to Prevention and Treatment. Springer, Verlag, LDN. MacClanccy, J, Henry, C, & Macbeth, H ,2009,Consuming the Inedible: Neglected Dimensions of Food Choice, Berghahn Books, New Jersey,NJ. McGinnis, J, Gootman, J, 2006,Food Marketing to Children And Youth: Threat Or Opportunity, National Academies Press, Richards, R,, 2007,The Impact of Personal, Behavioral, and Environmental Factors on Food Access, Food Choice, and Health Status Among Homeless Shelter-based Families in Minnesota. ProQuest, Ann ArBor, MI. Shepherd, R & Raats, M, 2006, The Psychology of Food Choice, CABI, Cambridge, MA. 6. APPENDIX Questionnaire TOPIC: health & diet 1. What is your gender? Please tick □Male □Female 2. How many meals do you eat everyday? □1 □2 □3 □4 3. Tick the statement you agree with I have a balanced diet. □Strongly agree □Agree □Neither agree nor disagree □Disagree □Strongly disagree 4. Do you know what a balanced diet is? □Yes □No □Not sure 5. Do you prefer eating vegetables, fruit or meat? □Vegetables (go to Q6) □Fruits (go to Q7) □Meat (go to Q8) 6. Tick below at least three vegetables that you like to eat. □Tomatoes □Carrots □Peas □Beans □Cabbage □Mushroom □Potato □Tofu □Onion □Celery □Broccoli □Eggplant □Garlic □Pumpkin □Red potato □Others 7. Tick below at least three types of fruit that you like most. □Apple □Banana □Orange □Pear □Kiwi fruit □Pine apple □Strawberry □Cherry □Grape □Water melon □Lemon □Mango □Blueberry □Others 8. Tick the types of meat you prefer to eat. □Chicken □Beef □Lamb □Pork □Turkey □Sea food □Others 9. Do you pay attention to diet nutrition? □Very □Normal □Never 10. Which one of the choices below do you think is a good habit? □Have some soup before dinner □Have some fruit after dinner □Have some dessert after dinner 11. How often do you eat fruit? □Everyday □2-3 times a week □Several times a month □Never/Rarely 12. How often do have some snacks? □Everyday □2-3 times a week □Several times a month □Rarely/Never 13. Did you eat breakfast everyday? □Yes □No □Sometimes 14. While going for lunch with your office colleagues you are most likely to have □A sandwich, coffee and donut □Pizza □Meat and vegetables □Other (please specify) 15. How many glasses of water do you drink daily? □1 □2 □3 □4 or more 16. Does the nutritional information on food labeling in the grocery store influence your purchases? □Yes □No 17. When you so far a dinner out for two, how much do you typically spend total (drinks with dinner included)? □Under ￡25 □￡25-50 □￡51-75 □￡76-100 □￡Over 100 Read More