Publication Date

1987

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Winsor, Helen Bruce

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Human and Family Resources

LCSH

Food preferences--Illinois--De Kalb; Nutrition--Illinois--De Kalb; Malaysian students--Illinois--De Kalb

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of nutrition, attitudes toward nutrition, and food purchasing practices of Malaysian college students in DeKalb. The subjects were 80 students studying at Northern Illinois University. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was computed to measure the reliability of the knowledge of nutrition test, attitudes toward nutrition test, and food purchasing practices test. A total score for each student was calculated to form the knowledge scale, attitude scale, and practices scale. Analysis of variance was used to determine differences in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the students by education level, sex, age, marital status, length of stay in DeKalb, household size, nutrition education, income level, money spent on food away from home, who does the grocery shopping, money spent on food at home, the frequency of food shopping, and the type of food stores used. Findings indicated that sex and nutrition education had a significant influence on knowledge of nutrition. Sex, length of stay in DeKalb, nutrition education, frequency of grocery shopping, and the type of stores used had a significant influence on attitudes toward nutrition. In this study, positive relationships were found between knowledge of nutrition and attitudes toward nutrition, between nutrition knowledge and food purchasing practices, and between attitudes toward nutrition and food purchasing practices. The correlation coefficient of knowledge of nutrition and attitudes toward nutrition was found to be significant at the 0.01 level. Based on the analysis of the data, it was concluded that those with nutrition education had better scores in their knowledge of nutrition, and the result from the multiple regression analysis indicated that nutrition education was the predominant variable influencing attitude and knowledge. This is suggestive of the need for formal nutrition education within the Malaysian education system to increase the knowledge of nutrition, to help turn negative attitudes toward food into positive attitudes, and to help in making wise food choices in relation to nutrition and consumerism. The general public should not be neglected. A form of either formal or informal nutrition education should be made available to them. Home economics services rendered by the Agriculture Extension Service should be extended not only to the rural communities, but to the urban communities as well.

Comments

Bibliography: pages [53]-57

Extent

iv, 76 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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