ABSTRACT

A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire to collect qualitative and quantitative data among young males (19-41 years) in lkuwano Local Government Area of Abia State was adopted/used in the study. A sample size of 220 respondents, a multi-stage sampling technique and a well-structured and validated questionnaire was used for the data collection and analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Statistical Package for Socials Sciences (SPSS version 25). The findings of the study revealed that 49.8% of the respondents were within the age bracket of 24-41 years, 71.9% were unmarried, 45.3% did not have children, 58.6% had post-secondary education, 90.6% were Christians, 60.6% lived in semi-township, 48.3% lived alone while results on socio-economic characteristics revealed that 48.8% and 39.9% were self-funded and engaged themselves with trading as a means of livelihood. In family size, 48.8% had size of 4-6, 25.6% received or earned N10,001- N20,000 as monthly income/allowance, 38.9% indicated that their fathers were civil servants while 36.9% of the respondents' mothers were traders. Results on nutrition knowledge revealed that the most of the respondents (59.1 %) had poor nutrition knowledge. Results on food habits revealed that 70.9% and 74.9% of the respondents make food choices and prepared the foods by themselves, 51.2% ate meals daily prepared at home, 74.9% skipped meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), 83.7% and 23.6% affinned that they skip meals and that the reason for skipping meal is due to no appetite, 30.0%, 46.8%, 58.6%, 49.3% and 26.1 % consumed fruits/vegetables twice a week, participated in exercise 1-2 times per week, had aerobic as types of exercise, walked and assessed themselves of not been too weak nor to strong. High dietary diversity was found among the respondents with 91.6% of the respondents showing that the respondents ate categories of foods such as protein, carbohydrates, fats and oil, as well as vitamins, minerals and were food secure this is due to the fact that they had access to food in sufficient quantity and quality for all their household members. Lastly, the identified economic factors, geographic locations, religious belief and practices; cultural practices, social factors, level of nutrition knowledge, autonomous changes facilitated by urbanization, physical reasons, physiological reasons and psychological factors respectively as some of the factors influencing their consumption pattern. Hence, the study concludes that the respondents: were young, highly educated, predominantly single, urbanized and Christian worshipper, had a balance between financial independence, entrepreneurship and relied on family support in face of economic challenges; poor nutrition knowledge; independence in food preparation, irregular/faulty eating habits, consumed processed foods and varying exercise, high dietary diversity, indicating a transitional group that may still face gaps in their diets. The study recommended the enhancement and promotion of socio-economic variables of the respondents with emphasis on income development and diversification as to efficiently improve family/societal welfare; advance the quantity/quality of foods.