ABSTRACT

Affordability is a key factor when considering the dietary intake of individual, the study adopted a cross-sectional design to examine the influence of food cost on diet choices among undergraduates in Abia State University, Uturu. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to get 124 respondents who participated in the study. A well-structured and validated questionnaire was used and data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Statistical Package for Socials Sciences (SPSS version 25). The socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the study revealed that the respondents were equally distributed by set (51.6% males and 48.4 female), age range of 23-25 years (28.2%), Igbos (67.7%), Christians (89.5%), 400lvl students (33.9%); 37.1%, 35.5%, 21.0%, 29.8% and 29.8% of the respondents were sponsored by their parents, lived off-campus, had family size of 4, their fathers’ and mother’s had secondary education respectively. The results on dietary habits indicated that 29.0%, 37.1%, 47.6% of the respondents ate once, ate at home, skipped meals respectively and 37.1% skipped dinner respectively. 28.2%, 29.0%, 29.0%, indicated that they skipped meals because they were busy, ate biscuits/chips and consumed carbonated drinks respectively. 26.6%, 29.8%, 50.8%, 51.6%, 57.3% indicated frying as their most preferred method of food preparation, price influenced their food habits, advertisement influenced their food choices, ate two portions of fruits and vegetables respectively. Results on the body mass index (BMI) revealed that 1.0% were underweight. 57.3% had normal weight. 40.3% were over-weight. 0.8% of the respondents were obsessed, 42.3% of respondents were deemed “not at risk” whereas 2.5% were classified as at increased risk. 36.9% of respondents fell into the low-risk category. 29.0% of the respondents spent between N1,000- N3,000, 54.8%, 55.6%, 48.4% indicated that there has been increase on amount they spent on food, increase in food cost influenced their dietary choices, when food cost increases, they relied on confectionaries as an alternative to meeting to their hunger quest respectively; 62.9%, 71.8%, 55.6% and 54.0% were affirmative regarding to choice of foods due to their affordability, eating smaller meals than felt needed due to lack of resources to purchase foods; went to bed on an empty stomach due to financial constraints and they spent a whole day and night without eating any food due to insufficient resources to purchase foods. Lastly there was positive association but not significant difference (P>0.05) between food costs variables (income level, item price and purchase order) and dietary choices (alternative cheaper foods, leaving on confectionaries and skipping meals). The study concluded that to an extent that food costs influence dietary choices with overwhelming influence on their health and academic performance. The study recommended promotion of affordable and nutritious food options, alongside educational campaigns on healthy eating, could be essential in addressing these dietary challenges.