Socio-Economic and Demographic Determinants of Dietary Practices among Young Adults (19-24 Years) Attending Commercial Colleges in Nairobi’s Central Business District, Kenya
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Date
2023-09
Authors
Mwanthi, Florence Mwende
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
kenyatta university
Abstract
Attending a college or university is an experience that is stressful to many young adults as they get introduced to an unfamiliar food environment full of economic constraints. As a result, they may develop poor dietary practices as a way of coping with this stressful environment. Evidence suggests that college students consume sub-optimal diets, hence, they tend to present with the triple burden of malnutrition. There is minimal data on the dietary practices of students attending commercial colleges in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to explore the socio economic and demographic factors related to dietary practices as well as health and nutrition status of commercial college students 19-24 years of age. A sample of 385 students was selected using proportionate stratified sampling coming from 10 purposively picked colleges in Nairobi's Central Business District (NCBD). Data was collected using a pre-tested researcher-administered semi-structured questionnaire that consisted of socio-demographic variables, a 24-hour dietary recall and a food frequency questionnaire. Key informant interview guides and observation checklists were also used to collect information on the food frequently consumed by the participants, food prices and types of food outlets available in the colleges. Food-related data analyses were conducted using the South African Medical Research Council (SA-MRC) Food Finder 111 (2016) package while the general data was analysed using the SPSS version 24 (2017) package. Statistical significance was set at p <0.05. Overall, the mean energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, added sugar, dietary fibre and sodium intake were respectively 5347kJ±, 138±132g, 138g±132g, 57g±50g, 172g±203g, 16g±15g, 12g±15g and 1244mg±1551mg. Females had higher BMI indices than males (22.67kg/m2 versus 21.48kg/m2, p=0.010). They also had significant waist-to-height ratios (WTHRs) when compared to males (0.49 versus 0.47 p=0.005). Males on the other hand had significant waist–to-hip ratios (WHRs) than females (0.85 versus 0.81, p<0.001). In this case, being male decreased the likelihood of the students having BMI ≥ 25kg/m2 (r= 0.203, p<0.001); while having 2 children or more and attending college for 2 years or more increased the likelihood of the students having BMI ≥ 25kg/m2 (r=7.682, p=0.002 and r= 1.710, p=0.044). The socio-economic determinants of dietary intake were; being a food decision maker, source of water and type of cooking fuel while socio-economic determinants of nutritional status were the source of income and monthly food expenditure. Furthermore, the demographic determinants of dietary intake were the tribe students belonged to, their year of study and the number of children and family size the students had while the socio-demographic determinants of nutritional status were age, sex, and religion. No dietary intake factors were significantly associated with the BMI ≥ 25kg/m2. The food outlets were found to be selling mostly high fat and sugary foods and snacks. The commercial colleges did not have guidelines on the type and nutritional quality of food that should be sold. We therefore recommend that the colleges liaise with food outlets to encourage the sales of healthy food and consult nutrition experts to facilitate provision of information to the students regarding healthy food. The information from this research will therefore be useful to tertiary institutions and stakeholders such as the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health, colleges in the Nairobi Central Business District and relevant Non-Governmental Organisations on the current dietary intake and nutritional status of students in Nairobi CBD.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Food, Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Health Sciences of Kenyatta University
Keywords
Dietary Practices, Young Adults (19-24 Years), Commercial Colleges, Nairobi’s Central Business District, Kenya