Abstract:
The study investigated the eating habits of students of Obrachire Senior High School.
The objectives were to find out students‟ nutritional knowledge, their food intake,
factors that influence their food choices and the effects of their eating habits. A
descriptive survey design was used for the study. One hundred and twenty students
were randomly selected as respondents. A questionnaire and semi-structured
interview guide were used for data collection and was analyzed using SPSS version
19. Results indicated that students‟ nutritional knowledge is low. Students generally
had two meals a day especially the day students with majority taking snacks between
the main meals. Factors that affected student‟s food choice included: food available,
religious and ethnic taboos, food advertisement and money available.
Recommendations include; students should be educated on food nutrients and
functions, parents should be encouraged to feed students with well balanced meals
including fruits and vegetables. Promotion of healthy eating guidelines and messages
should become a mass media campaign in order to target large groups, especially
adolescents. If students acquire healthy eating habit from home, they will practice it
when out of home.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Food and Nutrition Education,
Faculty of Home Economics Education, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Home Economics)
in the University of Education, Winneba
