Consumer Behavior of School-Going Children Towards Fast Food Items in New Delhi

Abstract

Amongst all modifiable risk factors for nutrition-related health problems in school-aged children are dietary choices. Fast food culture is becoming popular among school-aged children. It is highly convenient and tasty, and youngsters enjoy it due to peer pressure. However, understanding how students are drawn to fast foods has become increasingly important in recent years. The purpose of this study is to learn about the fast-food consumption patterns and preferences of school-aged children in New Delhi. In this study, a self-designed and pretested questionnaire was used to conduct the research. The acquired raw data was subjected to appropriate statistical analysis in order to produce relevant results. The results showed that 15% of participants do not have a preference for fast food, compared to the majority of children (85.25%) who are more likely to prefer eating fast food. According to the percentage of school-age children who eat fast food, 22% of them eat pizza/week, 16% of them eat pasta twice weekly, and 27% of them eat Maggi once or twice a week. In contrast, only 12% of them eat wraps weekly, 12% of them eat wafers, 17% of them eat cookies twice weekly, and 32% of them eat doughnuts infrequently. Fast food contains high levels of unhealthy sugars and fats that are also addictive, which makes it difficult for kids to make good eating choices.