Consumption of FV among the Elderly - Research Paper Example

Topic: Factors influencing vegetable consumption in local university students and international students Name of Student: Institution of Study: Name of Tutor: Date of Submission: 1. Introduction of investigation of vegetable consumption among college students Vegetables constitute a significant component of daily diet. Fruits and vegetables provide the consumer with minerals such as calcium in addition to vitamins. Statistics from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shows that 90 per cent of vitamin C and 60% of vitamin A are derived from fruits and vegetables (Blanck, Gillespie, Kimmons, Seymour, Serdula, 2008). Furthermore, phytochemical have been observed to contribute significantly towards health improvement by its products such as carotenoids, diallyl disulfide or allyl methyl trisulfide. Nutrients obtained from vegetables contribute towards prevention of some chronic diseases and degenerative functions in people who consume them. When a person consumes vegetables and fruits, the risks of cardiovascular infections are reduced, while impacts of diabetes, stock, hypertension and other forms of cancer are also reduced (Lin, 2005). According to the findings of the nurses and health study professionals’ follow up study, when a person consumes more vegetables he stands a better chance of not getting infected with diabetes. Generally, there are a large number of people who are infected with diseases that have resulted from pollution of the environment. More attention has been focused on reducing the impact of oxygen-free radicals that result from environmental degradation. This problem can be addressed effectively by increasing the amount of antioxidant foods consumed. Vegetables do not contain much salt, or sugar and also contains low amounts of fats. This ensures pollution is reduced and damage to human body is also reduced. Vegetables also contribute towards reduction of body weight. They contain fibers that create a feeing of satisfaction (Potter and Perry, 2006). This assists dieters who need to eat more calories. Fibers also assist in development of a proper figure. In this regard, World Health Organization came up with an initiative aimed at promoting fruits and vegetables in all parts of the world by setting standards for consumption of fruits and vegetables by creating a recommendation of 400 g on daily basis. Despite these recommendations, it has been found that FV consumption among college students is still below the required standards for a particular age (Geneva: 2001). There are a range of factors that influence vegetable consumption among college students such as self-efficacy, level of income, knowledge and their cultural environment. The use of the Theory of Planned Behavior among local and international students in addition to other factors that have impact on vegetable consumption in college students have been used to determine factors that affect Fruits and vegetable consumption behaviors among local and international students. The theory of Planned Behavior assists in understanding the ways in which people change their patterns of behavior towards consumption of FV. According to this theory, the intention of a person to engage in a particular eating habit can be determined. It explains that achievements of behaviors are dependent on intentions of a person as well as his abilities. The main factors that determine the intention include beliefs, attitudes towards a particular behavior, and the norms and perceived behavioral controls (Agudo, 2004). Attitude is an individual’s positive or negative impression of interest towards a particular type of food. Subjective norm is the belief regarding the approval or disapproval of a particular form of behavior. Perceived behavioral control is an individual’s ease or difficulty in taking a particular action. In general, an individual’s attitude towards a particular form of behavior will affect the possibility of that behavior to occur. 2. Aim The aim or objective of this study is to investigate the factors that affect fruits and vegetable consumption among college students with regards to Health Belief Model. 3. Research Question based on Health Belief Model Does consumption of fruits and vegetables among the university students affected by the level of risk that a person is likely to suffer if the fruits and vegetables are not consumed? 4. Method Participants A total of 10 participants were randomly selected to answer the questionnaires. The responders consisted of 4 males and 6 females from the Deakin University, with ages ranging from 18 to 25 years. Five people in a group were local students and the five responders in the other group were international students who came from China, Korea and Malaysia. All of them were all entered in either an undergraduate or postgraduate course this trimester. Four of the responders lived with their parents, and six participants lived along or with their housemates. Questionnaire The design of the questionnaire was based on the Theory of planned behavior. The 24-item beliefs and evaluation survey was constructed to measure participants’ behavioral intention in terms of vegetable consumptions. There were 8 questions per element of the model (attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control) in this survey. All the questions are a likerttype 5 point scale and participants were instructed to rate the strength of their agreement to the statement on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Scores for each item could range between 1 and 25. These questions can be easily administered and analyzed. The full questionnaire can be seen in appendix. Procedure The respondents in group one were recruited by the researcher via Facebook on the internet. Those participants were instructed to complete the questionnaires and returned to researcher via internet. In the international group the respondents were interviewed at Deakin library. The results were collated and analyzed using excel. Confidentiality of the participants were assured and all participants gave consent to took part in this survey. 5. Results On the variable of disease prevention the mean was 17.6 and the SD was 3.58 among local students while for international students, the mean was 15.6 and the SD was 6.02. On the variable of meeting standard diet fiber intake, the mean was 17.8 and the SD was 4.92 among local students while in the case of international students, the mean was 14.8 and the SD was 6.22. On the variable of keeping good figure, the mean was 21.2 and the SD was 3.83 among local students while in the case of international students, the mean was 20.8 and the SD was 6.94. On the variable of less feeling satisfied, the mean was 11 and the SD was 3.74 among local students while in the case of international students, the mean was 11.2 and the SD was 6.14. The mean score of local students is higher than that of international students with regards to the effect of attitude on vegetable consumptions. These results are represented in the table below. Item Mean SD Disease prevention Local students 17.6 3.58 International students 15.6 6.02 Meeting standard diet fiber intake Local students 17.8 4.92 International students 14.8 6.22 Keeping good figure Local students 21.2 3.83 International students 20.8 6.94 Less feeling of satisfies Local students 11 3.74 International students 11.2 6.14 Table 1. Attitude toward vegetable consumption On the variable of subjective norms that affect vegetable consumption among university students, the effect of parents’ expectation had a mean of 7.6 while the SD was 3.78 while among international students the mean was 6.4 and the SD was 2.19. The effect of professional’s suggestion had a mean of 10.6 and the SD of 4.45 among local students while among international students the mean was 11.6 and the SD was 4.03. The effect of advertising influence had a mean of 13.8 and the SD of 4.27 among local students while among international students the mean was 13.4 and the SD were 3.13. The effect of people around me affect food choices had a mean of 13.2 and the SD of 4.76 among local students while among international students the mean was 10.2 and the SD was 7.30. The mean score of local students was found to be higher than that of international students with regards to the effect of subjective norms on fruits and vegetables consumption. The table below provides a summary mean and SD for the variable of subjective norms. Items Mean SD Parents’ expectations Local students 7.6 3.78 International students 6.4 2.19 Professionals’ suggestions Local students 10.6 4.45 International students 11.6 4.03 Advertising influence Local students 13.8 4.27 International students 13.4 3.13 People around me affect food choices Local students 13.2 4.76 International students 10.2 7.30 Table 2. Subjective norms On the variable of perceived behavioral control beliefs, the mean and SD were established and it was found that in case of the factor of Taste influence on food choices the mean was 19.6 and the SD was 5.68 while among international students the mean was 19.2 and the SD was 3.96. On the effect of lack of cooking skills, the mean was 10 and the SD was 5.79 while among international students the mean was 17.4 and the SD was 7.37. On the effect of price affecting a person’s food choices, the mean was 10.2 and the SD was 1.64 while among international students the mean was 10.6 and the SD was 5.81. On the effect of limited choice of vegetables in restaurants, the mean was 14 and the SD was 5.61 while among international students the mean was 19.2 and the SD was 8.01. The mean score of local students is higher than of international students with respect to the effect of control beliefs on fruits and vegetables consumption. Items Mean SD Taste influence my food choices Local students 19.6 5.68 International students 19.2 3.96 Lack of cooking skill Local students 10 5.79 International students 17.4 7.37 Price influence my food choices Local students 10.2 1.64 International students 10.6 5.81 Limited choice of vegetable in restaurants Local students 14 5.61 International students 19.2 8.01 Table 3. Control beliefs 6. Discussion This study was focused on finding the factors that affect fruits and vegetable consumption among university students and it was found that the main factors can be classified into those related to attitude, subjective norms and control beliefs. It was found that the mean scores of various variables fruits and vegetable consumption was high among local students than international students. This shows that the consumption of FV among local students was more likely to be influenced more than that of international students. On the variable of attitude, the effect of keeping a good figure had a high mean and SD implying that most students consumed fruits and vegetables with the attitude that it would result into improvement of their figure. This is in agreement with the previous studies that showed that most college students consumed fruits and vegetables with the belief that they would get nutritional benefits and prevent the possibilities of occurrence of diseases such as cancer or heart attacks. The effect of less feeling satisfied had the least mean and SD implying that most students did not consume fruits and vegetables with the attitude that they would feel satisfied. On the variable of subjective norms, it was found that the factor of advertising had the highest mean and SD. This indicates that most students consumed fruits and vegetables because of the effect from advertising companies. The factor that had the least mean and SD was parents’ expectations. This is in agreement with previous studies that indicated that most vegetable consumers are affected by advertisements from social media such as the internet and television advertisements on the benefits of FV consumption. This implies that most students consumed fruits and vegetables not because they have been influenced by their parents to do so. On the variable of control beliefs, the factor that had the highest mean and SD was the influence of tastes on the choice of fruits and vegetables. This implies that most students consumed FV because of the tastes of these FVs.The factor that hade the least mean and SD is influence of FV prices on their choice for consumption of fruits and vegetables. This implies that most students did not consider price to be a factor that affected their consumption of FV. People involved in nutritional needs of students in colleges and universities need to put more emphasis on methods of enhancing FV consumption as a method of improving health and reducing chances of illness. This can be accomplished by applying the variables discussed in this study. 7. Conclusion The results o this study shows that Fv consumption is still affected by a number of barriers that need to be overcome. The outcomes of the study also show that the main factors affecting FV consumption are attitudes of consumers, subjective norms and control beliefs. However, this study shows that there is a relationship between FV eating habits and the Health Belief Model among university students. For instance, it is observed that students who perceive that they improve their figures when they consume FV are more likely to consume more FV. However, there is need to ensure that the barriers to FV consumption are reduced to ensure negative consequences such as effects of diseases and malnutrition are avoided. References Black JM, Hawks JH, Keene AM. 2006. Medical surgical nursing. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Mosby; 2006. Blanck HM, Gillespie C, Kimmons JE, Seymour JD, Serdula MK. 2008.Trends in fruit and vegetable consumption among US men and women, 1994-2005. 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Fundamentals of nursing. 6th ed. St.Louis: Elsevier Mosby;. Rosenstoch I. 1974.Historical origin of Health Belief model. Health Educ Monogr 2:334,. Asgari F, Aghajani H, Haghazali M, Heidarian H. Non-Communicable diseases risk factors surveillance in Iran. Iranian Journal of Public Health. 2009;38(Suppl. 1):119–22. Geneva: WHO; 1998. World Health Organization. Guidelines for controlling and monitoring the Tobacco Epidemic. Geneva: WHO; 2001. World Health Organization. New Global Burden of Disease Study classification system for diseases and injuries. Agudo A. 2004.Measuring intake of fruit and vegetable. background paper for the joint FAO/WHO workshop on fruit and vegetable for health. Kobe: World Health Organization; 2004. Appendix Please read following questions and circle the appropriate answers 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 1. Vegetable may protect me against illness 1 2 3 4 5 I worry about getting disease 1 2 3 4 5 2. Vegetable consumption meet me diet fiber intake 1 2 3 4 5 Standard diet fiber intake is important to me 1 2 3 4 5 3. Eating vegetable is important diver of keeping good figure 1 2 3 4 5 Good figure is important to me 1 2 3 4 5 4. I feel hungry when I eat more vegetables in a meal 1 2 3 4 5 The feeling of satisfy is important to me 1 2 3 4 5 5. Parents expect me to eat more vegetables 1 2 3 4 5 The expectations of my parents are very important to me 1 2 3 4 5 6. Professionals suggest me to eat more vegetables 1 2 3 4 5 The opinion of professionals affects my behavior 1 2 3 4 5 7. Advertising and other promoting approach influence my food choices 1 2 3 4 5 The vegetable advertisings have less attraction to me 1 2 3 4 5 8. People around me or my friends not often eat vegetable 1 2 3 4 5 Eating same type of food with my friends is important 1 2 3 4 5 9. Taste is the important diver of my food choice 1 2 3 4 5 I don’t like the taste of vegetables 1 2 3 4 5 10. Lack of cooking skills is the reason to consume less vegetable 1 2 3 4 5 My cooking skills is not good 1 2 3 4 5 11. Price on vegetables influence my food choices 1 2 3 4 5 Money I can spend on food is limited 1 2 3 4 5 12. Limited choice of vegetables in restaurants 1 2 3 4 5 I often eat outside 1 2 3 4 5 Read More