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Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians

Received: 18 April 2013     Published: 2 May 2013
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Abstract

The aging population (60 years and above) is becoming a global phenomenon and so is in Mauritius and over the last 4 years there has been an increase of 20.4%. There is an inadequate nutrition-related data among the older adults in Mauritius and in addition the factors influencing eating habits warrant investigation. This study aimed to understand how socioeconomic factors (income level and employment status), physical activity level, body mass index, nutritional knowledge is associated with eating habits of pre-retired and post-retired Mauritians. A survey based questionnaire was used to elicit information of the various factors. Chi square test, Independent sample t-test, One-way variance analysis and Pearson correlation were the main statistical tests used to determine relationship between eating habits and the different factors. Healthy food items were more frequently consumed by high income earners as compared to low income earners. Similarly, post-retired participants and those having high physical activity level consumed healthy food items more frequently. Low physical activity level was associated with high consumption rate of fast food and low intake of fruits and vegetables. There was also positive influence of nutritional knowledge on eating habits. Income level, employment status, physical activity level and nutritional knowledge have a great impact on the eating habits whereas no relation was found between eating habits and body mass index.

Published in International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13
Page(s) 109-115
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Socioeconomic Factors, Physical Activity Level, Body Mass Index, Nutritional Knowledge, Eating Habits

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yashvee Dunneram, Deerajen Ramasawmy, Prity Pugo-Gunsam, Rajesh Jeewon. (2013). Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 2(3), 109-115. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13

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    ACS Style

    Yashvee Dunneram; Deerajen Ramasawmy; Prity Pugo-Gunsam; Rajesh Jeewon. Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2013, 2(3), 109-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13

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    AMA Style

    Yashvee Dunneram, Deerajen Ramasawmy, Prity Pugo-Gunsam, Rajesh Jeewon. Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2013;2(3):109-115. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13,
      author = {Yashvee Dunneram and Deerajen Ramasawmy and Prity Pugo-Gunsam and Rajesh Jeewon},
      title = {Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians},
      journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {3},
      pages = {109-115},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20130203.13},
      abstract = {The aging population (60 years and above) is becoming a global phenomenon and so is in Mauritius and over the last 4 years there has been an increase of 20.4%. There is an inadequate nutrition-related data among the older adults in Mauritius and in addition the factors influencing eating habits warrant investigation. This study aimed to understand how socioeconomic factors (income level and employment status), physical activity level, body mass index, nutritional knowledge is associated with eating habits of pre-retired and post-retired Mauritians. A survey based questionnaire was used to elicit information of the various factors. Chi square test, Independent sample t-test, One-way variance analysis and Pearson correlation were the main statistical tests used to determine relationship between eating habits and the different factors. Healthy food items were more frequently consumed by high income earners as compared to low income earners. Similarly, post-retired participants and those having high physical activity level consumed healthy food items more frequently. Low physical activity level was associated with high consumption rate of fast food and low intake of fruits and vegetables. There was also positive influence of nutritional knowledge on eating habits. Income level, employment status, physical activity level and nutritional knowledge have a great impact on the eating habits whereas no relation was found between eating habits and body mass index.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Determinants of Eating Habits among Pre-Retired and Post-Retired Mauritians
    AU  - Yashvee Dunneram
    AU  - Deerajen Ramasawmy
    AU  - Prity Pugo-Gunsam
    AU  - Rajesh Jeewon
    Y1  - 2013/05/02
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13
    T2  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    SP  - 109
    EP  - 115
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2716
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20130203.13
    AB  - The aging population (60 years and above) is becoming a global phenomenon and so is in Mauritius and over the last 4 years there has been an increase of 20.4%. There is an inadequate nutrition-related data among the older adults in Mauritius and in addition the factors influencing eating habits warrant investigation. This study aimed to understand how socioeconomic factors (income level and employment status), physical activity level, body mass index, nutritional knowledge is associated with eating habits of pre-retired and post-retired Mauritians. A survey based questionnaire was used to elicit information of the various factors. Chi square test, Independent sample t-test, One-way variance analysis and Pearson correlation were the main statistical tests used to determine relationship between eating habits and the different factors. Healthy food items were more frequently consumed by high income earners as compared to low income earners. Similarly, post-retired participants and those having high physical activity level consumed healthy food items more frequently. Low physical activity level was associated with high consumption rate of fast food and low intake of fruits and vegetables. There was also positive influence of nutritional knowledge on eating habits. Income level, employment status, physical activity level and nutritional knowledge have a great impact on the eating habits whereas no relation was found between eating habits and body mass index.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

  • Department of Management, Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

  • Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

  • Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

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