Publication Date: 2022/03/13
Abstract: Consumer knowledge, attitude, and practice could determine their nutrition and health status. Objectives: This work determined the consumer knowledge, attitude, and practices related to health and diet issues in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Simple random sampling technique was used to select 400 respondents from the study area. Data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and practices of consumers towards health and diet issues was obtained with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with IBM statistical product for service solution (version 21.0) using descriptive (frequency and percentages)and inferential (Chi-square) statistics. Results: There were more (57.5%) males than females (42.5%). The common(43.3%) age range was 15 to 30years, mostly (46.6%)unmarried. They were mainly Christians (73.9%),with a major family size of 1-3 (46.6%) persons. Most (76.0%) of them were of Igbo ethnicity, with farming (39%) and artisan (22.8%) as common occupations. Forty-four percent had secondary education,42.3% earns between N20,0000-40000 monthly. A good percentage had a fair knowledge (53.8%)and attitude (48.5%) on health and diet issues. Seventy-three percent heard about dietary supplements through radio/television (45.8%), with 52.0% usage. Many (69.5%) check expiry dates of food items before purchase,5.3% use nutrition facts to purchase food products. Reasons for the non-use of the nutritional information on food labels were lack of knowledge (41%), ignorant of use (46.5%), and inability to view the tiny inscriptions (37.5%). Many (43.2%) of the respondents were regular buyers of low-fat/fat-free foods. Some (44.5%) were on a low sodium diet. Nutrition knowledge was significantly (P=0.02) associated with the purchase of low-fat foods, and positively related to the identification of sodium inscription on food products (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Respondents have a fair knowledge and attitude towards diet and health issues, but utilization of nutrition information on food labels was low.
Keywords: Consumer, awareness, attitude, practices, health, diet issues
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6349646
PDF: https://ijirst.demo4.arinfotech.co/assets/upload/files/IJISRT22MAR141_(1).pdf
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