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Definition of ‘fast food’ may vary from person to person. For some people fast food means anything that is cooked outside of the house. Some think fast foods are foods which are generally high in salt, fat, and refined carbohydrates and low in vitamins and minerals. Many people say that fast foods mean simply the American lifestyles (Consumer Behavior in Fast Food Industry, n.d.).
The study was conducted in International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) and slums of Uttara, Sector # 10, community to explore the thinking of this community about consumption of fast food. The study is based on the semi structured interview conducted among the participants. 30 students from IUBAT and 30 people from slum community of Uttara, Sector # 10 were interviewed. The age group of the participants was between 18-25 years. I conducted the interview in free time of the participants and collected the required information. It was found that people are knowingly taking these fast foods just because they do not have time to cook foods at home and the fast foods are simply delicious in taste and quick in service. No any variation was found both in practice and perception in context to gender or religion.
Economic status makes a great difference in the food we take. Socio-economic changes in many developing countries are contributing to the flourishing of fast food industries (Faruque et al, 2010). Eating fast food is like a fashion for the younger generation. They eat it to enjoy and have fun as well as it saves time. Slum people eat fast foods as they see others eating. They said that they saved money for many days so that they can eat outside home. Most of the time they eat it in compulsion to save their time from work. The educated individuals including university students have the updated knowledge about the effects of fast foods in our daily life. Educated people are conscious about the fats and calorie contained in fast foods while slum people even do not know what is ‘calorie’. Although some of them know about the fat contained they do not care to see it.
People should be educated in public about the negative effects the fatty foods can have. If we can control the intake of fast foods then only we can assure that the future will be free from chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, and hypertension
Table of Contents
Prefatory Parts
Title Fly 1
Title Page2
Letter of Transmittal3
Student Declaration 4
Acknowledgement5
Internship Clinical Experience at CWCH6
Executive Summary8
Internship Certificate
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Empirical Part
1.0Introduction
1.0.1Community Overview12
1.0.1.1IUBAT12
1.0.1.2 Uttara, Sector # 1012
1.0.2 Scope of the study13
2.0Background
2.0.1Introduction to Topic13
2.0.1.1Profile of Bangladesh14
2.0.1.2Definition14
2.0.2Literature Review15
2.0.3Rationale and Justification17
3.0Research Purpose and Objectives
3.0.1The purpose of the study18
3.0.2Specific Objectives18
3.0.3Research question19
4.0Methodology
4.0.1Study design19
4.0.2Study setting19
4.0.3Study population19
4.0.4Sample size and selection 19
4.0.4.1 Research Assistants20
4.0.5Data collection time frame 20
5.0Methods
5.0.1Definition of Variables21
5.0.2Data Collection Methods21
5.0.2.1.1In-depth Interviews21
5.0.3Data Management and analysis21
5.0.4Dissemination of findings21
6.0Ethical Clearance
6.0.1Confidentiality22
6.0.2Informed Consent23
6.0.3Risk and benefits23
7.0Strengths24
8.0 Limitations24
9.0 Research Timeline25
10.0Results25
10.0.1 Practice of Fast Food Intake
10.0.1.1 How often do they eat fast food?25
10.0.1.2 What time of the day do they eat fast food?26
10.0.1.3 What fast foods do they eat?26
10.0.1.4 Which is the favorite place to eat these foods?27
10.0.1.5 Do they eat in road side stalls?28
10.0.1.6 What food do they eat in road side stalls?28
10.0.2 Perception of Fast Food Intake
10.0.2.1 What is fast food?28
10.0.2.2 Why do you eat fast food?30
10.0.2.3 Why do you buy/eat from that particular place?31
10.0.2.4 Is there benefit to eating fast food?32
10.0.2.5 Is there negative effect to eating fast food?32
10.0.2.6 What do you like most about fast foods?32
10.0.2.7Are you concerned about the calories/fat when you eat fast food?
10.0.2.8Do you find the price of fast food reasonable?33
10.0.2.9Does fast food have any effect on your health?33
10.0.3Fast Food consumption inside IUBAT premises
10.0.3.1Do they eat ‘fast food’ from IUBAT cafeteria?34
10.0.3.2What are the common items they eat?34
10.0.3.3How often do they take?34
10.0.3.4What time of the day do they take ‘fast food’?34
10.0.3.5Are you conscious about calorie contained?35
10.0.3.6Do you find the price of ‘fast food’ reasonable?35
10.0.3.7Have you faced any effects on health after eating this food? 35
10.0.3.8Do you have any comments about the ‘fast food’ provided here?35
11.0Discussion:
11.0.1Practice of Fast Food Intake36
11.0.2Perception of Fast Food Intake38
Supplementary Part
12.0 Recommendation 40
13.0 Conclusion40
14.0 References42
Appendix I (Consent Form)
Appendix II (Survey Questions)
Appendix III (NIH Certificate)
Appendix IV (Definition of key concepts)
Appendix V (List of Tables)
1.0 Introduction
1.0.1 Community Overview
1.0.1.1 IUBAT- International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
IUBAT is the first Non-government University of Bangladesh which was established on January 16, 1991. It has a permanent campus on 5.5 acres of land and is currently situated in 4 Embankment Drive Road, sector#10, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka-1230, Bangladesh. It was approved under the Non- Government University Act of 1992 and 1998. The university was founded by Prof. Dr. M. Alimullah Miyan.
Mission of IUBAT is “Human resources development through appropriate teaching, training, and guidance as well as creation of knowledge conducive to socio-agro-economic development of developing societies in general and of Bangladesh in particular”.
The university is internationally linked with 60 universities in Europe, America, Canada, Australia, Asia and Africa (IUBAT Bulletin, 2010). IUBAT is an English medium university and students are strictly asked to speak in English inside university campus. The programs run at IUBAT are MBA, BBA, BCSE, BSCE, BSEEE, BSME, BAEcon, BSAg, BSN, BATHM, DCSE and professional diplomas in accounting. IUBAT is situated on the bank of holy river Turag from where can be captured a panoramic view of the holy Isthema ground. The university has various facilities like transportation, advanced computer lab, well equipped lab of every departments and a library with various collection of books (IUBAT Bulletin, 2010).
1.0.1.2Uttara, Sector # 10, Dhaka
Uttara is a Thana of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The name Uttara was derived from the Bengali word ‘Uttor’, which means north. It lies on the road to Gazipur and adjoins Shahjalal International Airport (Khan, 1994). Uttara is a residential area, having an area of 36.91 sq. km. There are fourteen different sectors in Uttara. Among which Sector # 10 is one of them. There is not any official authority under municipality in Sector # 10. But, there is a People Welfare office situated, which looks after the problems of people of Sector # 10. But this office does not fall under any government body. According to the information provided by this office there are many slum houses that reside on the bank of Turag River that runs along Uttara Sector # 10. But there is not any official record for this. The people living in the slums change their place frequently due to many reasons as natural calamities (flood), no money to stay, the land is occupied by some other bodies like construction companies Approximately, there are more than 500 families residing in slums around Sector # 10, Uttara (People welfare office, 2010).
1.0.2 Scope of the study
The scope of this research is limited to Slums of Uttara, Sector # 10, Dhaka and International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT). I have just conducted a preliminary study in these areas to know about the consumption of fast food by these people in their daily life. In future, the findings from the research can be used to formulate different strategies to uplift the health of individuals.
2.0 Background
2.0.1 Introduction to Topic
Studies have shown that with the consumptions of fast food, people are more likely to have health effects like obesity ( Li,2002, Bowman & Vinyard, 2004, Leeds Childhood Obesity Prevention and Weight Management Strategy, 2006, Bowman et.al., n.d., Grier et.al., 2007) heart diseases(Fast food and Heart Disease, n.d.) ,asthma (Breaking News24/7, 2009), stroke (Steenhuysen, 2009), type2 diabetes( Grace et.al.,2008). Mostly adolescents and adults are found to be affected by the fast foods. According to Transtheoritcal Model, behavior change is a process that occurs in the stages with people moving through different stages in a very specific sequence as they change. Consumption of fast food has become a behavior for the people so if they want to change or stay away from it they have to go through different change stages (Hayden, n.d.).
We can observe that the perception and practice of people are not going along. The reasons behind it are the advanced generation that perceives fast food as smarter, as part of having fun, family influences which means the family consumes the fast food as their dietary pattern. Also, mass media has a great influence among people where role models are shown taking fast food and having good body figure (Dickson & Nicole, 2009). It is also found that with slow or fast music in a restaurant customers are attracted to the restaurant and spend more money on food, although they spent significantly more on drinks (Meiselman & MacFie, n.d.).
2.0.1.1 Profile of Bangladesh
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is busy and highly populated city with many more advanced facilities than other parts of the Bangladesh. Schools, colleges and universities are found to be more in number here. People here are very busy and always in rush (Consumer Behavior in Fast Food Industry, n.d.). They do not have time to prepare healthy meals because they believe that preparation of healthy foods require long hours. They are simply too tired at the end of the day to prepare meals with good nutrition and suitable caloric value (Consumer Behavior in Fast Food Industry, n.d.). We can see many restaurants and fast foods shops around the city. It is found to be very easy to buy foods from outside from any fast foods shops for many families (Does fast food mean fat food, 2008). It has become a part of their life.
“In Dhaka city for street vendors there is no policy that shows that street food
Vending can also be understood as a means of employment. Street food vending is not regulated in Bangladesh but operates haphazardly without any systematic monitoring system (Faruque et al, 2010).” In study conducted by Faruque et al (Faruque et al, 2010 it was found that most of the vending shops (68%) were located on the footpath irrespective of areas surveyed and 30% vending carts were placed near the drain and 18% near the sewerage.
In Bangladesh, this fast food culture started in the late eighties (Consumer Behavior in Fast Food Industry, n.d.). Day by day the intake of fast food is increasing and fast food places are getting popular. It can be easily estimated by the establishment of many fast food shops around Dhaka city.
2.0.1.2 Definition
Definition of Fast Food may vary from person to person. For some people fast foods mean anything that is cooked outside of the house. Some think fast foods are foods which are generally high in salt, fat, and refined carbohydrates and low in vitamins and minerals. Many people say that fast foods mean simply the American lifestyles (Consumer Behavior in Fast Food Industry, n.d.). Some say fast foods are meal with high saturated fat and low quality carbohydrates, white bread and lots of soda and low fiber content. It is also believed that fast foods represent a dietary pattern that is the opposite of what is recommended for a healthy body (Freiboth, n.d).
For my study, the fast foods are any ready made foods that are served by fast foods shops like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), American Fried Chicken (AFC), A&W, PIZZA HUT, PIZZA END, Fortune Fried Chicken (FFC), California Fried Chicken (CFC, McDonalds. The items include sandwich, burger, fried chickens, combo servings, cold drinks, fries, pizza and many more fat items. As my study population is slum area too, I have considered the readymade food available in shops like packed biscuits, chips, and local items like singara, samocha, chop which contain high fatty oils too as the fast food for my study.
2.0.2 Literature Review
A study conducted in India showed that many youngsters visit fast food shops for having fun and change. Although they gave preference for taste and nutritional values followed by hygiene, they felt that home made food is much better than food served at fast food centres (Goyal, 2007). “Street foods vendors assure food security for low-income urban populations and provide a livelihood for a large number of workers who would otherwise be unable to establish a business for want of capital” (Faruque et al, 2010). But, it has also been recognized that street- food vendors are often poor, uneducated and lack the safe food practices in context of Bangladesh (Faruque et al, 2010).
Fuzhong Li and his colleagues from Oregon Research Institute (ORI) have published a research article through the American Journal of Epidemiology which states that a high density of fast food outlets is associated with an increase of 3 pounds in weight and 0.8 inches in waist circumference among neighborhood residents who frequently ate at restaurants (Li, 2002). The researchers followed a sample of 1200 local residents’ ages 50-75 years old over a three year period using anthropometric and survey measures (body weight, perceptions etc). Researchers believe that those who are having fast food will gain weight and it will lead them to obesity. The study can not be compared with mine as my study is between the age group 18-25 years of age and also I did not do any anthropometric assessments. Also, my study was just a short interview with some questions.
Bowman & Vinyard in 2004 did a study among 20 years and older in U.S. The study was done to find out how and where people are eating. They compared results from two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) surveys that were done 5 years apart. Those surveys showed that consumption of fast food has increased from 16% to 25%. They had higher body mass index than people who did not eat fast food and were more likely to be overweight. The study can be an example that fast food consumption can lead to overweight. Hence, people should be aware of the items they eat when eating fast food.
In one of the researches done by Bowman et al, it was found that obesity increases with the consumption of fast food (Dickson & Nicole, 2009).The result showed that fast food consumption was highly prevalent in both genders, all racial/ethnic and regions of the country. Children who ate fast food compared with those who did not eat fast food consume more total energy and had poorer diet quality on days with compared with children who did not eat fast food. There are lots of causes for overweight and obesity, among which high intake of energy dense foods (fast foods) is one (Leeds Childhood Obesity Prevention and Weight Management Strategy, 2006).
“Food Marketing to Children and Health” study done by Katherine L. Denlinger, 2008 as a course requirement had revealed the negative effects of food marketing to children. The health of children and youth in the United States has greatly declined over the past few decades. Around the whole many countries are experiencing high rates of childhood obesity. It has been found that many individuals who are obese as children are also obese as adults. One study found that about a third of obese preschool children and a half of obese school-age children become obese adults and this obesity has many negative affects including medical, emotional, and social consequences (Denlinger, 2008).
Clare et al in their study “Prevention of type 2 diabetes in British Bangladeshis: qualitative study of community, religious, and professional perspectives” have found that one of the ways to prevent diabetes is by adopting healthy lifestyles which is done by staying away from the high sugar and fat foods(Grace et al,2008). This study helps to conclude that without consuming fast food we can prevent ourselves from diabetes, which is a chronic disease. The study done by Kozyrskyz on “Fast-food negates anti asthma benefits of breastfeeding” suggests that the prevalence of fast food can increase twitchy airways and wheezing leading to asthma (Taragana, 2009).
Fast foods are also the cause of heart disease and stroke. At the American Stroke Associations International Stroke Conference, study done by Morgenstern and colleagues in the year 2003 was presented, which had showed that the relative stroke rose one percent for each fast-food restaurant. During that time residents suffered a total of 1,247 ischemic strokes caused by blocked artery that obstructs the blood flow to the brain (Steenhuysen, 2009). They found that fast food have high amount of fat which flow in the blood and accumulates in the blood vessels with increasing year and creates a difficulty in the blood flow and leads to stroke.
Not much research has been done among the age group specifically 18-25 years about the consumption of fast food. Moreover, In Bangladesh no any specific research has been done regarding the perception and practice of fast food among people.