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| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 11
| Issue : 2 | Page : 47-49 |
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A study on knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical, paramedical, and dental students of a tertiary care institution toward consumption of fast foods
Durga Prasad Patnana, Bhavana Chopparapu, Swathi Dulla, Lakshmi Venkata Simhachalam Kutikuppala
MBBS Student, Konaseema Instute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation (KIMS&RF), Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh, India
| Date of Submission | 02-Mar-2020 |
| Date of Acceptance | 20-Dec-2020 |
| Date of Web Publication | 25-May-2021 |
Correspondence Address:
Mr. Lakshmi Venkata Simhachalam Kutikuppala
Kutikuppala, Final MBBS Student, KIMS&RF, Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh - 533 201
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/mjmsr.mjmsr_10_20
Background: Fast food generally refers to food that people intend to consume quickly either on- or off-site. Junk foods are foods that contain little or no proteins, vitamins, or minerals but are rich in salt, sugar, and fats and are high in energy (calories). Excess consumption of fast food has been linked with a variety of health problems including obesity and type II diabetes. Fast foods tend to contain high trans-fat levels which tend to raise amounts of low-density lipoprotein in the human body leading to ill effects on health. Aim: The aim of this study was to know the knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical, paramedical, and dental students toward consumption of fast foods. Materials and Methods: This study is carried out at Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation for 2 months among 658 students from medical, dental, and paramedical courses. Students were asked to fill a self-administered questionnaire, and acquisition of data from those filled questionnaires was done. Data entry and assessment were done in MS Excel and depicted as required. Results: Six hundred and fifty-eight students of medical, dental, Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), and nursing courses participated in this study, out of which 421 (64%) are MBBS, 165 (25%) are BDS, 39 (6%) are BPT, and 33 (5%) are nursing students. Conclusion: Hygienic practices should be maintained at fast-food outlets and restaurants. A law postulating to label nutritional information for unpacked foods before serving should be implemented.
Keywords: Fast food, hygiene, nutrition, obesity, trans-fat
How to cite this article:
Patnana DP, Chopparapu B, Dulla S, Kutikuppala LV. A study on knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical, paramedical, and dental students of a tertiary care institution toward consumption of fast foods. Muller J Med Sci Res 2020;11:47-9 |
How to cite this URL:
Patnana DP, Chopparapu B, Dulla S, Kutikuppala LV. A study on knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical, paramedical, and dental students of a tertiary care institution toward consumption of fast foods. Muller J Med Sci Res [serial online] 2020 [cited 2023 Mar 21];11:47-9. Available from: https://www.mjmsr.net/text.asp?2020/11/2/47/316688 |
| Introduction | |  |
Food that can be prepared quickly and easily and is sold in restaurants and snack bars as a quick meal or to be taken out is called fast food.[1] It includes chips, sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken, French fries, chicken nuggets, pizza, and ice cream. It is high in calories and lacks in micronutrients.[2] Frequent fast-food consumption is associated with hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.[3] The popularity of fast food among college students presents an especially pernicious problem, as negative eating habits adopted early in life tend to persist throughout adulthood.[4]
Aim and objectives
The cardinal feature of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical, paramedical, and dental students toward consumption of fast foods and junk foods.
| Materials and Methods | | |
The study is carried out at Konaseema Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation (KIMS and RF) for 2 months. Six hundred and fifty-eight students comprising medical, dental, BPT, and nursing students have responded to a well-prepared online questionnaire form with consent. Later, data were collected and analyzed in Microsoft Excel for results.
| Results | | |
A total of 658 medical, dental, BPT, and nursing students participated in this study, out of which 421 (64%) are MBBS, 165 (25%) are BDS, 39 (6%) are BPT, and 33 (5%) are nursing students. Out of 658 study participants, 341 are males (57%) and 283 (43%) are females, 520 are hostelers (79%) and 138 are day scholars (21%). Best questions are selected and analytical data are demonstrated in [Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3] and [Table 1]. | Figure 1: The response of students to the question asked regarding their knowledge about FSSAI logo with respect to gender distribution
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 | Figure 2: Response of students to the question asked regarding skipping of their routine for fast-food consumption
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 | Figure 3: Response of students to the question asked regarding reason for their fast-food consumption
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 | Table 1: The response of students to the question asked regarding their preference of place and type of food
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| Discussion | | |
Knowledge
Seventy-four percent of the students know the importance of checking nutrient label on packed foods before consuming them. Sixty-four percent of the students consider the nutritional values of fast food they consume. Only 58% of the female and 61% of the male students came under both knowing about Food Safety and Standards Authorities of India (FSSAI) and having seen its logo on packed foods, which is in accordance with a similar study conducted by Poornima et al.[5]
Attitude
Sometimes, 74% of the males and 78% of the females get influenced by nutritional information and rest of them does not. Fifty percent of the females and 41% of the males get motivated by emotions to consume fast food. Eighty-four percent of the males and 87% of the females skip any one of the meals to eat fast food rest does not. Forty-eight percent of the students rate 3 out of 5 for nutritional values of fast food, which is in accordance with a similar study conducted by Vidya et al.[6]
Practice
Majority (75%) of the students eat both packed and unpacked foods. Forty-one percent of the students eat fast food 1–2 times a week, which is in accordance with a similar study conducted by Ramchandra et al.[7] Fifty-eight percent of the students prefer junk foods followed by chat foods (21%), dairy foods, fried foods, and bakery foods. Majority of students eat fast foods because they feel fast foods tastier. Offering a variety and eating along with their friends make students prefer fast foods. Majority of the students eat at roadside stalls followed by restaurants. Only 13% of the males and 16% of the females check ingredient label before they consume, which is in accordance with a similar study conducted by Saranya et al.[8]
| Conclusion | | |
Awareness programs pointing about FSSAI and checking nutritional information should be done. Students should be motivated to keep in check of their emotions so that they do not lead for bad habits like eating fast foods. Hygienic practices should be maintained at fast-food outlets and restaurants. A law postulating to label nutritional information for unpacked foods before serving should be implemented.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank all the participated students, professors, and Head of Department, Community Medicine, KIMS and RF, for their valuable support and co-operation throughout the study.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | | |
| 1. | |
| 2. | Shree V, Prasad RR, Kumar S, Sinha S, Choudhary SK. Study on consumption of fast food among medical students of IGIMS, Patna. Int J Community Med Public Health 2018;5:27-31.  |
| 3. | World Health Organization. Life Course Perspective of Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, Diabetes. Available from: Whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2001/WHO_NMH_NPH_01.4.pdf. [Last accessed on 2019 Jun 05]. |
| 4. | Mary A Gerend. Does calorie information promote lower calorie fast food choices among college students? J Adolsec Health 2009;44:84-6. |
| 5. | Poornima S, Ramakrishna S, Shivakumar KM. Consumption pattern of fast foods among young adults attending medicine OPD at MIMSH, Mandya city Karnataka, India. Indian J Prev Soc Med 2013;44:42-5. |
| 6. | Vidya B, Damayanthi M. N, Sharada R, Shashikala Manjunatha. Junk Food Consumption Pattern and Obesity among School Going Children in an Urban Field Practice Area: A Cross Sectional Study. Journal of Evidence based Medicine and Healthcare; 2015; 2:12:1796-801. |
| 7. | Ramchandra MU, Salunkhe AH, Mohite VR. Knowledge regarding health hazards of junk foods among adolescents. IJSR 2013;4:43-6. |
| 8. | Saranya PV, Shanifa N, Shilpa Susan Simy Thomas, Umarani J, Asha P. Shetty, Adolescents' Knowledge Regarding the Effects of fast food on Health, International Journal of Current Medical Research. 2016;5:3:406-9. |
[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]
[Table 1]
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