ACCESS TO FASTFOOD OUTLETS AND CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR AMONG PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

Previous researches have identified a high increase of ‘‘fast food’’ consumption among children who attended schools closer to a fast food outlet. Accessibility, availability and affordability had been identified to be a cogent factor in fast food consumption.However, the effect of access on the consumption of fast food had not been well documented. This study therefore explored the access to fast food outlets and consumption behaviour among private primary school pupils in Ibadan North Local Government Area, (LGA) Oyo State, Nigeria. This study was a descriptive cross sectional survey. A six stage sampling technique was employed to select 421 pupils attending 12 private schools in six selected wards out of the 12 wards of Ibadan North Local Government Area. A validated semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the socio demographic characteristics, knowledge of fast food and nutrition, access of fast food snack shop in school and fast food outlet outside the school, consumption behaviour and perception of fast food. Knowledge of fast food was scored on an 8 point scale; scores of ≤ 3, >3 - 6 and >6 were classified as poor, fair and good knowledge respectively. Knowledge of nutrition was scored on a 5-point scale ≤ 2 were categorised as poor, >2 - 3 as fair and >3 - 5 as good. The consumption behaviour was on a 7-point scale ≤ 4 were categorised as unhealthy, >4-7 were categorised as healthy. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics and Chi – square test at p=0.05 were used. Respondents mean age were 8.5±0.9 years. More than half (52.5%) of the respondents were female while 40.4% of the respondents were 9 years. About 38.3% of the respondents were in primary five and many (82.2%) of the respondents were Christians and about three quarter (75.3%) of the respondents were Yoruba. Respondents were knowledgeable about fast food contents such as excess oil (86.9%), and the harm it can cause when consume in excess (51.3%). A total of 41.1% of the respondents visited the snack shop in their schools on a daily basis and majority 76.3% have 50 naira as their daily pocket money which they use in purchasing various snacks. This study revealed that many pupils bought their snacks from the snack shops inside the school and the type of snacks and drinks sold in these shops are high in salt and sugar content.This accessibility might have made majority of these pupils to consumed various snacks and drinkson a daily basis due to availability and affordability. Strategies such as advocacy to facilitate policy formation relating to items that should be sold such as fruits, eggs and increasing the price of these unhealthy snacks would be appropriate strategies to reduce the rate of fast food consumption.