Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Background:

Fast food restaurants have become widespread in both developed and developing countries due to nutritional and economic transitions. The frequency of fast food intake is relatively high among adolescents; however, fast food consumption is positively associated with total energy intake and obesity in adolescents.

Objective:

This study aimed to examine the perception of Jordanian adolescents towards fast foods relative to gender and obesity.

Methods:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 400 boys and 395 girls, aged 15–18 years. The adolescents completed a validated questionnaire to measure the perception of adolescents towards fast foods during the year 2013–2014. Weight and height were measured. Numbers who were non-overweight, overweight, and obese were calculated for each age and sex using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) standard.

Results:

The majority of participants perceived foods which are eaten as sandwiches as fast foods. A significant difference between boy and girl adolescents was reported regarding perception of French fries (p < 0.012), fried chicken (p < 0.001), fattayer (p < 0.001), foul (boiled broad beans) sandwich (p < 0.001), falafel sandwich (p < 0.044) and fried eggs sandwich (p < 0.001) as fast foods. Girls were significantly more enthusiastic than boys to consider cuscusi plate (p < 0.001), rice dishes (p < 0.002), Chinese foods (p < 0.001), Indian foods (p < 0.010), Mexican foods (p < 0.011), and Italian foods (p < 0.004) as non-fast foods. The difference between obese and non-obese regarding the perception of fast foods was only significant among boy participants. Western or non-Arab foods, food prepared fast and eaten fast in self-service outlets, and food rich in calories were significantly perceived as fast food by Jordanian adolescents (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The perception of foods as fast foods or non-fast foods was significantly different between both genders as well as in obese and non-obese male Jordanian adolescents.

Keywords

Fast foods perception gender body weight status adolescents

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Al-Hazzaa

Abahussain

Al-Sobayel

. (2011) Physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents relative to age, gender and region. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 8: 140.

ALFaris

Al-Tamimi

Al-Jobair

. (2015) Trends of fast food consumption among adolescent and young adult Saudi girls living in Riyadh. Food & Nutrition Research 18(59): 26488.

Batada

Seitz

Wootan

. (2008) Nine out of 10 food advertisements shown during Saturday morning children’s television programing are food high in fat, sodium, or added sugars, or low in nutrients. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108(4): 673–678.

Bender

. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Bin Zaal

Musaiger

D’Souza

(2009) Dietary habits associated with obesity among adolescents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nutrición Hospitalaria 24(4): 437–444.

Black

Billette

(2015) Fast food intake in Canada: differences among Canadians with diverse demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics. Canadian Journal of Public Health 106(2): e52–e58.

Braithwaite

Stewart

Hancox

. (2014) Fast-food consumption and body mass index in children and adolescents: an international cross-sectional study. British Medical Journal 4: e005813.

Cole

Bellizzi

Flegal

. (2000) Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: International survey. British Medical Journal 320: 1240–1246.

Cuzzocrea

Larcan

Lanzarone

(2013) Gender differences, personality and eating behaviors in non-clinical adolescents. Eating and Weight Disorders 17(4): e282–e289.

10.

El-Qudah

(2014) Food habits and physical activity patterns among Jordanian adolescents aged 11–18 years. World Applied Sciences Journal 29(10): 1213–1219.

11.

Fox

Gordon

Nogales

. (2009) Availability and consumption of competitive foods in US public schools. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109: S57–S66.

12.

Goyal

Singh

(2007) Consumer perception about fast food in India: an exploratory study. British Food Journal 109(2): 182–195.

13.

Kaushik

Narang

Parakh

(2011) Fast food consumption in children. Indian Pediatrics 48(17): 97–101.

14.

Kaur

Hegde

(2008) Are we aware of what we are, we are what we eat – an epidemiological survey. International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry 1(1): 13–16.

15.

Madanat

Troutman

Al-Madi

(2008) The nutrition transition in Jordan: the political, economic and food consumption contexts. Global Health Promotion 15(1): 6–10.

16.

McPhail

Chapman

Beagan

(2011) “Too much of that stuff can’t be good”: Canadian teens, morality, and fast food consumption. Social Science and Medicine 73(2): 301–307.

17.

Monge-Rojas

Smith-Castro

Colon-Ramos

(2013) Psychosocial factors influencing the frequency of fast-food consumption among urban and rural Costa Rican adolescents. Nutrition 29: 1007–1012.

18.

Musaiger

(2014) Consumption, health attitudes and perception toward fast food among Arab consumers in Kuwait: gender differences. Global Journal of Health Science 6(6): 136–143.

19.

Musaiger

Bader

Al-Roomi

. (2011) Dietary and lifestyle habits amongst adolescents in Bahrain. Food & Nutrition Research 55: 7122.

20.

Musaiger

Al-Mannai

Tayyem

. (2012) Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in seven Arab countries: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Obesity 2012: 981390.

21.

Neumark-Sztainer

Story

Perry

. (1999) Factors influencing food choices of adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 99(8): 929–936.

22.

Oxford University Press (2010) New Oxford American Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

23.

Powell

Nguyen

(2013) Fast-food and full-service restaurant consumption among children and adolescents: impact on energy, beverage, and nutrient intake. JAMA Pediatrics 167(1): 14–20.

24.

Satia

Galanko

Siega-Riz

(2004) Eating at fast-food restaurants is associated with dietary intake, demographic, psychosocial and behavioural factors among African Americans in North Carolina. Public Health Nutrition 7(8): 1089–1096.

25.

Sebastian

Wilkinson Enns

Goldman

(2009) US adolescents and my pyramid: associations between fast-food consumption and lower likelihood of meeting recommendations. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 109(2): 226–235.

26.

Soe

Lee

Nam

(2011) Factors influencing fast food consumption behaviors of middle-school students in Seoul: an application of theory of planned behaviors. Nutrition Research and Practice 5(2): 169–178.

27.

Spear

Kulbok

(2001) Adolescent health behaviours and related factors: a review. Public Health Nursing 18(2): 82–93.

28.

Story

Neumark-Sztainer

French

(2002) Individual and environmental influences on adolescent eating behaviors. Journal of the American Dietetic Associaiton 102(3): S40–S51.

29.

Svastisalee

Schipperijn

Ellegaard Jorgensen

. (2014) Fast food intake among adolescents and measures of fast food outlet exposure: cross-sectional study in Denmark. European Journal of Public Health 24(suppl 2): cku165-134.

30.

Tayyem

Al-Hazzaa

Abu-Mweis

. (2014) Dietary habits and physical activity levels in Jordanian adolescents attending private versus public schools. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 20(7): 411–118.

31.

Toselli

Brasili

Di Michele

. (2014) Perception of fattening foods in Italian children and adolescents. SpringerPlus 3(402): 1.

32.

World Health Organization (2005) Nutrition in adolescence: issues and challenges for the health sector. Issues in adolescent health and development. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

33.

Zigmont

Bulmer

(2015) The impact of caloric information on college student’s fast food purchasing intentions. American Journal of Health Education 46: 70–77.

Fast foods perception among adolescents by gender and weight status

Abstract

Background:

Objective:

Methods:

Results:

Conclusions:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References