Health Information Literacy: An Assessment of Commercial Bus Drivers’ Patronage of ‘Mama Put’ Food Outlet, and Their Sense of Vulnerability to Food Poison

Abstract

Health information can be an effective means of guiding consumers to healthy eating as well as make them aware of certain diseases that can be contacted as a result of unhygienic environment where food is prepared or sold. Despite hygienic environment, little is known about the actual impact of health information literacy on commercial bus drivers about “mama put” food outlets. The work was an empirical study and survey research design was adopted. The work was anchored on Consumer Pull Model. Data were collected in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria among commercial bus drivers by administering questionnaire to a sample of 352 respondents at Upper Iweka Motor Park, Onitsha. This study found that commercial bus drivers in Onitsha are not health information literate and not aware that patronizing “mama put” food outlets make them vulnerable to food poison. It also established that price of a plate of food and quantities are two major factors that influence commercial bus drivers to patronize mama put food outlets. Based on these findings, this study recommended that health regulatory bodies should educate both the “mama put” food vendors and the commercial bus drivers on the importance of hygienic environment where food is prepared or sold.

Keywords: Health information literacy, “Mama Put”, Commercial bus drivers, hygienic environment, Food poison.

DOI: 10.7176/JPID/50-08

Publication date:June 30^th 2019