Habeeb L. Owolabi1; Timothy O. Ayoade2; Mercy A.C. Onwuama3; and
Adetola O. Adeniyi
4Lagos State University of Education, Oto/Ijanikin, Lagos State.
Dept. of Human Kinetics and Health Education, 3
University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State, Nigeria
Abstract
There are controversies when socio-economic status and culture are used to determine a change in behaviour after healthy eating education intervention which calls for more research in the area. The study investigated the impact of socio-economic status and culture on dietary behaviour of students after healthy eating intervention in Lagos State. The research design used for the study is a pre test – post-test experimental and control group design. The population of the study included all senior secondary school students in Lagos Island Local Government Area. The study utilised multistage sampling technique to select one hundred and twenty one (121) participants from two schools from the population of 5,946. The samples were assigned to experimental and control group. A modified General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire, Nutrition Behaviour Questionnaire and Healthy Eating Education Manual were used by the researchers. Two research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The data collected was analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of data analysis revealed that two hypotheses null hypotheses were accepted. The findings indicated that the socio-economic status of participants’ parents and participants’ culture did not significantly influence dietary behaviour of participants after intervention. It was concluded that healthy eating education improves the dietary behaviour of students, irrespective of the socio-economic status of participants’ parents and culture. The study recommended that schools should make provisions for adequate diet at school without being bothered about the socio-economic class and culture of the students. The learners should be trained to inculcate healthy eating habits and be treated as one irrespective of their differences.