International Journal of Current Medical Research http://www.wrpjournals.

com/IJMSC
Vol. 5, No.3, pp. 406-409, March 2016

Full Length Research Article

Adolescents’ Knowledge Regarding the Effects of fast food on Health
Saranya, P.V, Shanifa, N., Shilpa Susan, Simy Thomas, *Umarani, J. and
Dr. Asha P. Shetty
Yenepoya Nursing College, Yenepoya University, Mangalore
Received 18th February 2016; Published 31st March 2016

Background: The present scenario flashes light on many adult diseases, have their roots in childhood and adolescence. This is due to lack of
knowledge and awareness regarding bad food habits. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge regarding the effects of fast food
on health among adolescents in selected Pre University College at Mangaluru.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge regarding the effects of fast food on health among adolescents in selected Pre University College. To find
the association between knowledge of adolescents regarding the effects of fast food on health and the selected demographic variables.
Methods : A non experimental descriptive survey design was adopted. A structured knowledge questionnaire regarding effects of fast food
consumption was prepared in order to assess the knowledge of adolescents. A sample of 100 adolescents were selected by using non probability
purposive Sampling technique.
Result: The result revealed that 13% of adolescents had inadequate knowledge, 69% has moderate knowledge and 18% has adequate knowledge
regarding effects of fast food on health. It was also found that there is a significant association between the knowledge score with selected
demographic variables.
Conclusion: The study results show that only 18% of adolescents were having adequate knowledge regarding effects of fast food on health.
Hence it is necessary to improve the adolescent’s knowledge on health hazards of fast food in order to save them from the ill effects of fast food.
Key words: Fast food, Adolescents, Descriptive study, Knowledge.

INTRODUCTION The prevalence of obesity and overweight among Iranian

population was estimated to be 67% for women and 29% for
Fast food restaurants are often the overall choice for food men. Nutrition transition is an important factor which can
away from home. Socioeconomic trends, such as longer work affect dietary intake, particularly in developing countries. The
hours, more women employed outside the home, and a high rate of processed foods consumption (e.g.: fast food) is going
number of single-parent households have changed the way to be increased due to nutrition transition (Azadbakht, 2005).
families obtain their foods. As parents experience busier Children and adolescents taking more calories in fast food and
lifestyles, they demand convenience for their family foods. other restaurants than at the home. Eating out added between
The consumption of fast food is fostered because of the quick 160 and 310 extra calories a day. When fast food frequently
service, good taste, and inexpensive prices relative to more replaces nutritious foods in the diet, it can lead to poor
traditional home-style restaurants (http://www.health nutrition and poor health. Food is the prime necessity of life. It
line.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body.html) Teenagers are can be any substance or material eaten or drunk to provide
frequent visitors to fast food restaurants, different store and nutritional support for the body or for pleasure.
the visits occur immediately after school. The best way to
attract a child to eat healthy foods is by allowing them to read It usually consists of plant or animal origin that contains
upon information about fast food. There is a lot of information essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins,
on fast food that children can get through website, schools, vitamins, or minerals. Good nutrition is a high priority among
children’s magazines and etc (Poti, 2013). Trends including adolescents as it is a period of rapid growth and development,
fast food consumption and skipping breakfast increased during which depends to a large extent on the nutrition. Nutritional
the transition period of adulthood and such dietary behaviours intake during this stage may have long term health implication
are associated with increased weight gain from adolescents to (Jeffery, 2006). In today’s age of convenience, fast food needs
adulthood (Niemeier, 2006) Nutrient profiling, a method for no introduction. It’s delicious, filling, affordable, and readily
categorising foods according to nutritional quality, is both available at any time of the day. Teenagers are typically fond
feasible and practical in promoting public health through of eating fast food not only for its taste but also for the peer
better dietary choices. The development of nutrient profiling is group habits. Salted snack foods, candy, most sweet desserts,
an enviable step in support of strategies to tackle obesity and fried fast food and carbonated beverages are some of the
other non-communicable diseases (Lobstein, 2009). Obesity is major fast foods. Most harmful effects of fast food include
a worldwide chronic disease which may lead to type 2 diabetic increased cholesterol levels, cardiac problems, hypertension,
and cardiovascular diseases (Apovian, 2010). obesity, dental caries, cancer and many other threatening
health hazards (Bowman, 2004). Globally fast food market
*Corresponding author: Umarani, J. grew by 4.8 percent and reached a value of 102.4 billion and a
Yenepoya Nursing College, Yenepoya University, Mangalore
International Journal of Current Medical Research 407

volume of 80.3 billion transactions. In America adolescents RESULTS

aged between 11-18 years visit fast food outlets average of
twice a week and by 14 years of age, 32 percent of adolescent The age distributions of majority adolescent’s girls are of 16
16-
girls, 52 percent of boys consume three or more servings of 17 years 45% belongs to Muslim religion. 61% are from 2
sweetened soft drinks daily. In India fast food industry is PUC. With regards to family income 33% comes around
growing by 41 percent a year (http:www. 10,000-20,000.
20,000. 68% students are staying in home. Among the
fastfoodmarketing.org/fast_food_facts_in_brief.aspx
rketing.org/fast_food_facts_in_brief.aspx). A study 100 adolescents 76%of studentsents are consuming fast food
conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, because of delicious taste and 74% student are not undergone
Department of Science and Technology found that the any teaching programme (Table 1).
consumption of fast food was increasing among teenagers.
The same study had shown that this trend end and associated
lifestyle factors in the urban adolescent and young adult
population had resulted in the increase in non-communicable
non
diseases (Fast food popular among teenagers,, 2005).
2005

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A descriptive study was done among pre university
univ students of
1 & 2 PUC in Mangaluru. The study protocol was approved
by the ethics committee of the institution. The sample size of
100 was obtained at pre university school. The permission to
conduct the study was obtained from the respective school schoo
principal. Ethical clearance from the institution ethics
committee and written informed consent from the participants
were obtained before the data collection. The tool consists of
demographic data and a self administered questionnaire on Figure 1. Percentage distribution of level of Knowledge
fast food with 24 multiple choice questions with general
aspects of fast food and health effects of fast foods. The The study results show that 69% of adolescents are has
questionnaires were distributed to students in each class. The moderate knowledge regarding effects fast food on health
questionnaires were in English and were pre tested in a group (Figure 1). The area wise distribution of knowledge score is
of 10 students before its used for the study. Content validation shown in Table. 2. The knowledge score is depends selected
of the questionnaire was done by experts from medical, demographic variables. i.e.; monthly income (x2=8.838, P <
education, unit of the institution. At the end of data collection 0.05), place of living (x2=11.714, P < 0.05), reason for fast
investigator educated students on effects of fast food on food consumption (x2=8.04, P < 0.05).
health.
Table 1. Description of demographic characteristics of the adolescent
N=100
S. No Demographic variables Frequency Percentage
1 Age in years
a) 16-17 45 45%
b) 17-18 44 44%
c) Above 18 11 11%
2 Gender
a) Male 35 35%
b) Female 65 65%
3 Religion
a) Hindu 10 10%
b) Muslim 72 72%
c) Christian 18 18%
4 Educational Status
a) 1 PUC 39 39%
b) 2PUC 61 61%
5 Monthly Family Income In Rupees
a) <10,000 19 19%
b) 10,000-20,000 33 33%
c) 20,000-30,000 16 16%
d) >30,000 32 32%
6 Place Of Living
a) Hostel 32 32%
b) Home 68 68%
7 Are You Consuming Fast Food
a) yes 76 76%
b) no 24 24%
8 What is the Reason for fast food consumption
a) delicious taste 69 69%
b) attractive 15 15%
c) convenience 16 16%
9 Whether you have undergone any teaching programme
regarding the effects of fast food?
a) Yes 26 26%
b) No 74 74%
International Journal of Current Medical Research 408

Table 2. Description of area wise, mean, Standard deviation, and mean percentage of knowledge score

N=100
S. No Area of knowledge Maximum Mean score Standard Mean%
possible score deviation
1 General knowledge regarding fast food 12 7.33 7.25 56.77
2 Effects of fast food on health 12 5.58 5.24 43.22

Table 3. Association between knowledge of adolescents regarding effects of fast food on health and selected demographic variables

Demographic data Median<13 Median≥13 Chi-square value Table value

Monthly Income
a. <10,000 7 12
b. 10,000-20,000 15 18 8.838 7.82 *
c. 20,000-30,000 7 9
d. >30,000 13 19
Place of living
a. Hostel 13 19 11.714 3.84 *
b. Home 29 39
Reason for fast food consumption
a. Delicious 26 43
b. Attractive 6 9 8.04 5.99 *
c. Convince 9 7
P< 0.05 level * significance

The result of the study shows that there is a significant of health education among 904 adolescent school children of
association between the knowledge score with selected 9-11 standards in Chandigarh. The information was collected
demographic variables (Table 3). regarding the dietary intake and eating habits through
interview. Most common food item consumed by adolescents
DISCUSSION were samosa (42.4%), chat (39.7%), burger (24.5%), pizza
(23.3%). A team comprising of doctors, medical social
In a study natural experimental survey and receipt data were workers and supporting staffs gave education regarding diet
collected from low-income areas in NYC, and Newark, NJ. A and nutrition. One month later post test was done. The results
total of 349 children and adolescents aged 1-17 years, who showed that 58.8 percent of adolescents preferred fast food
visited the restaurants with their parents (69%) or alone (31%). items but after intervention it is declined to 31.2 percent (Puri,
In total, 90% were from racial or ethnic minority groups. 2008). Similar study was conducted to find out association
Results showed that many adolescents reported, between fast food restaurant use and food choices among
Approximately 35% of adolescents ate fast food six or more adolescents in Minnesota. Community based samples of 4746
times per week and 72% of adolescents reported that taste was adolescents of grade 7-12 were selected. Among them 50.2
the most important factor in their meal selection. Adolescents percent were males and 49.8 percent were females and mean
in our sample reported that parents have some influence on age was 14.9 years. Their dietary intake was assessed by using
their meal selection (Elbel, 2011). In a cross sectional study of semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The result
(ISAAC) results showed that 72,900 children (17 countries) indicates that 75 percent of the students reported eating at a
and 199,135 adolescents (36 countries) provided data. fast food restaurant during a past week. The most consumed
Frequent and very frequent fast-food consumption was fast food by females were, soft drink 45 percent, cheeseburger
reported in 23% and 4% of children, and 39% and 13% of 100 percent, French fries 60 percent by males, soft drink 42
adolescents, respectively. Children in the frequent and very percent, cheeseburger 73 percent, French fries 53 percent
frequent groups had a BMI that was 0.15 and 0.22 kg/m(2) (French, 2001). A study examined the associations between
higher than those in the infrequent group (p<0.001). Male high school students' lunch patterns and vending machine
adolescents in the frequent and very frequent groups had a purchases and the school food environment and policies.
BMI that was 0.14 and 0.28 kg/m(2) lower than those in the obtained results showed Students at schools with open campus
infrequent group (p<0.001). Female adolescents in the frequent policies during lunchtime were significantly more likely to eat
and very frequent groups had a BMI that was 0.19 kg/m(2) lunch at a fast food restaurant than students at schools with
lower than those in the infrequent group (p<0.001) closed campus policies (0.7 days/week vs. 0.2 days/week, p <
(Braithwaite, 2014). .001). Student snack food purchases at school were
significantly associated with the number of snack machines at
A similar study was conducted to investigate the consumption schools (p < .001) and policies about the types of food that can
of ten types of fast food practices among adolescents in be sold. In schools with policies, students reported making snack
Beijing. Samples of 1019 adolescents between 8-16 years food purchases an average of 0.5 ± 1.1 days/week as c
were selected. A questionnaire technique was used to obtain ompared to an average of 0.9 ± 1.3 days/week in schools
the information. One month prior to the study 97.5 percent of without policies (p < .001) (Neumark-Sztainer, 2002).
the adolescents had eaten at least one type of fast food and
15.88 percent of them had eaten all ten types of fast food. Most Conclusion
of the adolescents ate fast food during breakfast at home (Zhu Children and adolescents taking more calories in fast food and
et al., 2008). An interventional study which was conducted to other restaurants than at the home. Eating out added between
find the inclination towards fast food consumption and effect 160 and 310 extra calories a day. When fast food frequently
International Journal of Current Medical Research 409

replaces nutritious foods in the diet, it can lead to poor Elbel, B., Gyamfi, J., Kersh, R. 2011. Child and adolescent
nutrition and poor health. The study results show that only fast-food choice and the influence of calorie labeling: a
18% of adolescents were having adequate knowledge natural experiment .Int J Obes (Lond).2011 Apr;35(4):493-
regarding effects of fast food on health. Hence it is necessary 500. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2011.4. Epub 2011 Feb 15.
to improve the adolescent’s knowledge on health hazards of French, S. A., Story, M., Neumark, D., Fulkerson, J.A.,
fast food in order to save them from the ill effects of fast food. Hannan, P. 2001. Fast food restaurant use among
adolescents. International Journal, 2001 Dec; 25.
Acknowledgement Jeffery, Robert, Baxter, Jucly, McGuire, Mauiree, Lincle,
Jennifer. 2006. ”Are fast food restaurants an environmental
The authors of this study thank the participants of the pre risk factor for obesity”;http://www.jstor.org/
university college, all teaching faculty, principal and all other stable/20439143/. (published:25 Jan)
experts who had helped for the successful completion of the Lobstein, T., Davies, S. 2009. Defining and labelling ‘healthy’
study. and ‘unhealthy’ food. Public Health Nutr 12: 331-340. Doi:
10.1017/ S1368980008002541
Declaration Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Hannan, P.J., Croll, J. 2002.
Overweight status and eating patterns among adolescents:
Its hereby declared that the above mentioned manuscript has Am J Public Health, 92:844-851. PubMed Abstract
not been published anywhere, accepted for publication Niemeier, H.M., Raynor, H.A., et al. 2006. Fast food
elsewhere or under editorial review for publication elsewhere. consumption and breakfast skipping: predictors of weight
gain from adolescence to adulthood in a nationally
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