THE EFFECT OF CULTURAL BACKGROUND ON THE DIETARY HABITS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

This research investigated The Effect of Cultural Background on the dietary habit of undergraduate students in the university of Benin. The purpose of this study is to identify dietary habits among by undergraduate students, to identify the cultural factors that influence food choices and nutritional behaviors among undergraduate students and to examine the potential health implications of cultural dietary habits on the well-being of students. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. University of Benin technical education final year students. The sampling techniques used for the study was total of (45) students enumeration sampling Technique. A questionnaire was designed and titled the Effect of Cultural Background on the dietary habit of undergraduate students in the university of Benin. A total of 45 copies of questionnaire were administered and 45 copies were duly completed, returned and found useable for this study. The instrument was subjected to face validation by the supervisor. Analyses and discussions of data collected for this study were descriptively done using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study shows that dietary habits of undergraduate students is to a high Extent, the cultural factors significantly influence the dietary choices of undergraduate students in the university is to a high extent and the potential health implications associated with the dietary habits of students influenced by their cultural background is to a high Extent. Recommendations was made which state More community involvement and the creation of dialogue around good dietary habits should be encouraged. It is also found necessary to change the mindset of the people. Everyone should be open to discussion about the importance of good dietary habits among undergraduate students and help the younger people to understand what are the objective of dietary habits is. So, for that more education on dietary habits has to be taught to everyone. Passage of this act would help increase awareness of the importance of engaging in proper dietary habits that can lead to good health. All youth would be better equipped to make informed decisions about proper dietary habits. For future researcher, they can use this research as a literature to guide them while doing the similar research. Although this research still has many weaknesses, the researcher hopes this study can help the other researchers concerning the effects of cultural background on the dietary habit.