Knowledge, Attitude and Consumption Pattern of Alcoholic and Sugar Sweetened Beverages among Undergraduates in a Nigerian Institution

Abstract

High consumption of alcoholic and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) remains a public health problem among the young adults. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and consumption pattern of alcohol and SSBs among the undergraduate students. A pretested, self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on the socio-demographic characteristic, knowledge, attitude and consumption pattern of the students regarding the negative social and health implications of excessive consumption of alcohol and SSBs from 376 undergraduate students from the University of Ibadan. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi square at P<0.05 was considered significant. The mean age of the students was 22.5±2.3 years. Large proportion (83.0% and 86.7%) had adequate knowledge of the health implications of excessive consumption of alcohol and SSBs respectively. Majority (85.4%) had positive attitude towards intake of alcoholic drinks while 83.5% had negative attitude towards the intake of SSBs. Majority (83.0%) of the respondents considered high intake of alcoholic drinks as dangerous to health while only 32.5% considered regular consumption of SSBs as dangerous to health. Majority (75.0%, 63.3% and 79.3%) of the respondents abstained from intake of beers, alcoholic wines and spirits respectively. Significant relationship was observed between the knowledge of social and health implication of excessive consumption of alcohol and the abstinence of the participants (p<0.05). A significant relationship was also observed between frequent consumption of SSBs by the respondents and being overweight (P<0.05). Knowledge of the undergraduate students on the social and health implication of excessive consumption of alcohol and sugar sweetened beverages was adequate. Majority had negative attitude towards alcohol intake but positive attitude towards the intake of sugar sweetened beverages. Frequent consumption of sugar sweetened beverages could contribute to being overweight. Nutrition education to encourage healthful dietary practices regarding the intake of sugar sweetened beverages should be intensified.

Key words: Knowledge, Attitude, Consumption pattern, Sugar Sweetened Beverages, Alcoholic drink