Abstract
Objective: To identify the factors related to the intake of store-bought foods in upper-grade primary school children in Vanuatu. Method: The targets of this study were sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students attending primary schools in both urban and rural areas in Vanuatu. We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey. The main questionnaire items included intake of store-bought foods, knowledge related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), health practice attitudes, and guardians' health-related parenting attitudes. Relationships between scores for store-bought food items and each variable were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Factors related to store-bought food intake were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The significance level was set at p<0.05. Results: More than 90 % of the targets of this study consented to participate in the questionnaire survey. The questionnaires were distributed only to the targets who agreed, and 415 questionnaires were distributed (194 in urban areas and 221 in rural areas). All 415 questionnaires were collected and admitted as valid responses. The mean store-bought food intake score was 8.9 (SD=3.1) of a maximum possible score of 16. The univariate analysis shows that residential area (p<0.001), finding local foods delicious (p<0.05) and favorite (p<0.05) ; finding store-bought foods delicious (p<0.01), favorite (p<0.001), and healthy (p<0.05); perception scores for store-bought foods (p<0.001); and scores for household possessions (p<0.01) were significantly associated with the intake of store-bought foods. Discussion: The findings suggest that living in urban areas, disliking local foods, enjoying store-bought foods, and having economic power promote the intake of store-bought foods.
