Food Consumption Habits in Children

Prepared and submitted by: Vadiraj Joshi (M-11-23) Renuka Nair (M-11-24) Ravi Potdar (M-11-) Sneha Sawant (M-11-51) Vijay Thube (M-11-58)

Managerial Economics
Growing concern over the long-term effects of unhealthy eating habits among children has highlighted the need to monitor their health behaviours. This document is intended to evaluate the healthy food consumptions among school children.

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Managerial Economics

Food Consumption Habits in Children

Background:
In health terms, childhood and adolescence are particularly important times of life. Certain behaviours are initiated during the adolescent years, while others, such as eating habits, can become established even earlier in childhood. Given this, research into childrens food consumption and health behaviours is essential.

Methods:

Samples of children aged between 8 and 12 years was conducted, specially focussed on school going children. Fieldwork was targeted to school children and more than 100 children took part. Pupils were sampled from schools and/or school classes. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire.

Eating Habits Findings:

It is recognised that those who develop healthy eating habits early in life are likely to maintain them into adulthood and hence it is important to inculcate healthy eating habits in childhood. A balanced diet is likely to reduce the risk of more immediate health problems such as obesity. Patterns of eating are also important; those skipping breakfast are most likely to have difficulty in concentrating by mid-morning and are more likely to consume snacks high in fat, salt and sugar at other times during the day. Diet Preference: The responses were collected from 58 school going boys and 41 school going girls. Among the same, 48% preferred vegetarian diet and 26% preferred non-vegetarian while remaining 24% prefer both. Meal Timings and Breakfast Habits: Approximately 80% of respondents confirmed to have meals more than twice during the day and 71% have regular timings of meals. Breakfast was not observed to be skipped and normally consisted of traditional Indian breakfast like parathas or cereals. Milk was consumed by 63% along with breakfast of which 54% preferred it to be flavoured. Lunch and inclusion of healthy food items: Lunch was almost daily carried from home by those who had afternoon school timings and was substituted by food from school canteen on days when home-made lunch was not available. Food high on nutrition and health quotient like soups and fruits was not a regular part of daily meals and was consumed sometimes. Vegetables however formed an essential part of daily intake among those who preferred non-vegetarian diet also. Hygiene Habits: Almost 50% of the respondents observed healthy hygiene habits like washing hands before meals or touching food, however the remaining 50% confirmed to the habit less frequently or never. Hence more awareness about cleanliness and hygiene related habits needs to be cultivated. Confectionaries and fast food consumption: Confectionaries like chocolates; ice cream, cakes, pastries and deserts sweets were consumed on a high scale. Most children confirmed to consuming these foodstuffs almost 3-4 times in a week. However along with the consumption of these items, the intake of fried and high calorie foods was also observed as was a high percentage of children visiting fast food joints, outlets like McDonalds, Dominos, Mall Food Courts etc at least once in a week.

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Managerial Economics

Inferences on the demand of food products amongst young children:

It is observed that due to growing popularity of fast food and confectionaries due to the taste and convenience, the demand for these items is high and hence we see increasing number of fast food and Chinese joints in the vicinity of schools & colleges. Also since flavoured milk is preferred to plain milk, we can infer that the demand for health drink supplements is high. So if the companies promoting such products include variety and nutritional benefits, the demand can be further stirred. Also companies promoting personal care and hygiene products can see the low level of awareness & hygiene habits as an opportunity and implement promotional strategies amongst children.

Conclusion:
Nutrition during childhood has lifelong consequences. While regular timings and breakfast habits are observed in children, the study also highlights a number of concerns relating to the dietary habits of children. The high percentage of obesity concerns can be attributed to incorrect dietary habits and lack of exercise and play time. Hence intake of confectionaries, fried and fast food, aerated drinks needs to be monitored and control. Current nutritional recommendations therefore focus on the overall balance of the diet and emphasise the importance of eating a wide variety of foods. Also parents should be more aware and alert about the food habits of their children and should play an instrumental role in cultivating healthy food consumption habit from an early stage.

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