CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.4 Factors that influence college students’ choice of food consumption patterns
4.4.5 Unplanned haphazard food consumption patterns for non-resident students
122 Another student intimated that:
Findings of this study also unveiled that the type of students‟ residential accommodation while in college also poses stress on the students.
One student indicated that:
As a non-resident student sometimes pressure of work makes me not to cook at all. I rarely take breakfast because it will be too early for me to eat as I leave home very early because I stay far from college and will carry bread and drink to drink at break time then I do not eat anything at lunch and will only eat at night when I come back home where I stay and sometimes have bread and drink or tea because I will be too tired of spending the whole day in class and walking almost 6km to and fro every day.
Most of the times I get home and there is no electricity because of the load shedding.
Understandably, since the non-resident students have to source and prepare food for themselves, it stands to reason that when they are hard pressed by college academic work, they are thus exposed to erratic eating schedules. Thus the stress experienced from their busy schedules should make the students conscious of the need to plan and have well planned meals. Torres and Nowson, (2007:890) also states that high stress levels influence food habits and lead to poor academic performance.
Relationship between stress and nutrition on academic work lies on the notion put forward by Rogers (2001:135) that a healthy body is able to maintain a healthy mind, meaning that certain risk factors for a physically ill health are also risk factors for depression and cognitive impairment.
4.4.5 Unplanned haphazard food consumption patterns for non-resident
123 4.4.5.1 Availability of funds
All non-resident students reported that their choice of food was based the amount of funds available, the availability of convenience foods which they could prepare easily and quickly, the cost of the food as well as their favourite foods. These findings concur with those of resident students in the sense that although the dietary patterns adopted by resident students were more routine and fixed by the college, both categories of students consumed food stuffs anyhow, disregarding nutritive value.
Like their counterparts, non-resident students highlighted the fact that owing to general financial constraints, they ate whatever type of food that came their way just to keep themselves going. For non-resident students the irregular consumption patterns were experienced with their main meals rather than supplementary meals as was the case with residential students. Both categories did not have balanced diets.
The issue of funds has been found to be the most determinant of students‟ food consumption patterns due to the fact that the majority of the students were living below the poverty datum line as evidenced by their monthly incomes in Table 4.6.
A student bemoaned her situation as she said:
Umm ahh, I eat when I am hungry that is if I have the food because sometimes I feel hungry but have nothing to eat due to lack of money.
Pertaining to economic circumstances, (Janssen et al., 2005:132) observe that in most Third World countries, poor people may have to take any food available to them on the basis of affordability, despite its poor nutritional value. Zimbabwe, as a nation, has suffered economic difficulties in the past three decades and food security was compromised. Zimbabwe today is regarded as food insecure. Conversely, students in many Zimbabwean institutions have had to make do with any food availed to them, owing to financial limitations (Chikomba, 1986:56).
4.4.5.2 Health consideration
One of the non-resident participants purported nutrition awareness and knowledge in making healthy food choices but was not financially sound. This suggests that this
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student would have interest to adopt systematic food consumption patterns but financial constraints inhibited this ideal pattern. Although the participant admitted that it was difficult for her to purchase food that would provide balanced diet she was particular about how nutritious the foods she ate were.
The student commented that:
As a student we have scheduled times for break and lunch break. I also make sure I don‟t eat anything anytime. If I feel hungry in between meals I eat but I eat light and healthy snacks like fruits so that I will be able to take my meals properly ee well. I don‟t take junk foods; I pack my food from home but financial problems are the major hindrances. Sometimes when there is load shedding you end up just having bread and drink as your meal.
College life is considered a very busy period for students. In order to make the body work as efficiently as possible, it is important that busy and stressed students are properly fueled and food functions as this essential fuel (LaFountaine, 2012:217). By implication, students should consume well planned meals that promote good health.
Another student intimated that:
I use resources available mostly and then acquire or buy what is not there to make proper meals. I consider nutrient value of the food. I make dishes, sorry, I plan dishes that I will make have all nutrients because there is no one dish that can provide all nutrients.
Thus for both resident and non-resident students, the food they consumed was not a product of systematic planning for a balanced diet but was rather dictated by circumstantial factors of an economic nature. Evidence suggests that food consumption patterns followed by the students were generally unhealthy, haphazard and inconsistent.
125 4.4.5.3 Lack of nutrition knowledge
Students‟ interview results suggest that students did not follow proper food consumption patterns because they lacked nutrition knowledge. During interviews one student mentioned:
I do not plan any meals I just eat what the college gives us and I don‟t even know how meals are planned.
Research indicates that improving the awareness of nutritious meal choices holds the promise of enabling students to make correct choices of foods that may support proper cognitive functioning. Conversely, the provision of information to students that results in their ability to long-term habits of healthy eating has in the long run, a positive effect on cognitive and spatial memory capacity, potentially increasing a student's potential to process and retain academic information (Singh-Manoux, Hillsdon, Brunner & Marmot, 2005:25).
As a follow up to the results in Table 4.23 students were asked to comment on the prices of their favourite meals as indicated in Table 4.24.