THE STUDY OF THE FAST FOOD CONSUMPTION AND ITS RELATED FACTORS AMONG STUDENTS OF URMIA UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES IN 2017

Changing lifestyle is one of the achievements of modernity that society, especially
the urban community has suffered. One of the factors that indicates a change in lifestyle is a change in
nutrition. An example of this is the prevalence of over-consumption of fast food among adolescents and
young people. Therefore, this study was designed to study the state of consumption of fast food and its
related factors among Urmia medical students.
Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional (descriptive-analytic) study was conducted on 299 students
of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Samples from university colleges were selected by stratified
random sampling and were included in the study. To collect the data, a valid and reliable three-part
questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude was used. Data were
analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (independent t-test, Chi-square, one-way
ANOVA, correlation and multiple linear regression) in SPSS-16 software.
Results: The findings showed that the mean age in the whole was 22.10 ± 4.30 (22.86 ± 4.47 in female
and 21.84 ± 2.50 in the female group). On average, the consumption of fast foods was 2.7 times per
month in students and this consumption was higher in boys than in girls (2.97 ± 4.8 in males and 2.58 ±
3.61 in females). The mean score of knowledge and attitude toward fast food consumption among
students was 17.71 ± 3.80 and 190.30 ± 43.54, respectively. Based on the results of the study,
knowledge, attitude and ethnicity of students in both univariate and regression analyzes were recognized
as factors related to fast food consumption and these relationships were statistically significant (p <0.05).
Conclusion: This study revealed that students' knowledge and attitudes play an effective role in the
adoption and non-adoption of the behavior of their fast food consumption. The design and
implementation of nutrition education programs is recommended for students to raise knowledge and
improve the attitude and beliefs about the use of fast food