Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Fast-Food Intake of Private and Public Primary School Pupils in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the socio-economic factors influencing fast-food intake of the pupils in Ondo State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population for the study comprised private and public primary school pupils in Ondo State. The sample size comprised 400 respondents. Twenty schools (Ten private and ten public) were selected, and twenty pupils were selected from each school using accidental random sampling technique. A validated self-developed questionnaire titled Socio-economic Factors Influencing Fast-food Intake (SFIFI) was used for the study. The reliability coefficient of r = 0.78 was obtained for the instrument using Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient. Data collected were analysed using percentages and Chi-square statistics. The result showed that many of the respondents frequently had fast-food. The socio-economic factors such as: parents’ level of education, family income, family size and parents’ occupation were found to be influencing fast-food intake of pupils in the state. The result further showed that many of the respondents indicated that they usually initiate buying fast-food and dictate which fast-food to buy. The result also showed that there was a significant difference in fast-food intake of private and public primary school pupils in the state (χ² = 103.34; p<0.05). It was recommended that the parents and children should be given nutrition education that parents should checkmate the choices of food of their children instead of the pupils dictating to the parents.

Keywords: Socio-economic Factors, Fast Food, Private Primary School, Public Primary School, Restaurant