A Study on Fast Food Consumption, Nutritional Knowledge, Food Behavior and Dietary Intake of University Students

Kim, Kyung Won; Shin, Eun Mi; Moon, Eun Hye

Abstract

This study was designed to examine fast food consumption, nutritional knowledge, food behavior and dietary intake of university students and to investigate if there were differences in these variables by fast food consumption. The questionnaire was administered to university students in Daejeon. Data(n=269) was analyzed using chih-square -test and analysis of variance. Subjects were mostly female(62%) and freshmen or sophomores(86%). Based on the frequency of fast food consumption, subjects were categorized into non-users(27.9%), users(<2 times/week, 42%) and frequent users(> or = 2 times/week, 30.1%). Those who used fast foods(n=194) consumed the foods 7.5 times per month, on the average. Subjects scored 15.6 out of 20 on a nutritional knowledge scale, showing the moderate level of knowledge. When examined by fast food use, the nutritional knowledge score was 15.5 for non-users, 16.1 for users, and 15.0 for frequent-users(p<0.05). Only two items, regarding 'fat type(animal, plant) and health' and 'importance of having breakfast', were significantly different by fast food consumption, with user group and non-users scoring higher than frequent-users(p<0.05). Food behaviors, measured by 20 items, were not desirable, with mean scores of 51.5(possible score: 20-100). Subjects showed problems in eating meals regularly, eating a variety of foods, eating breakfast, and consumption of some food groups(vegetables, fruits, and proteins). Fast food non-users showed more desirable food behaviors than users or frequent-users, such as having processed foods (p<0.001) and eating-out less frequently(p<0.01). Dietary intake data showed that some nutrient intakes, including energy, calcium, iron, zinc and folic acid were less than 75% of the RDA. Index of nutritional quality(INQ) was adequate except for calcium and zinc. Compared to non-users or user group, frequent-users of fast foods consumed higher amounts of lipids(p<0.05), and had lower INQ for calcium(p<0.01). This study described the status of fast food consumption, nutritional knowledge, food behavior of university students, and provided some baseline data for planning nutrition education for university students.