Keywords
Senior Secondary Students
Descriptive Survey
Emotional Eating
Delta State
How to Cite
Abstract
This study investigated the prevailing nutritional practices adopted by Senior Secondary School students in Delta State, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey design using an ex-post facto approach. The population comprised 14,819 students from public secondary schools across the three senatorial districts of Delta State. A sample of 390 students was selected through multistage sampling using Slovin’s formula. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.81 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test analysis at a 0.05 significance level. The findings revealed that students predominantly engaged in unhealthy nutritional practices, including emotional eating (M = 3.38), consuming large food portions (M = 3.07), frequent snacking (M = 3.06), and meal skipping (M = 2.92). Healthy behaviors such as daily fruit and vegetable consumption (M = 2.28) and regular physical exercise (M = 2.41) were not commonly practiced. Furthermore, the t-test result indicated no significant difference between male and female students regarding nutritional practices (t = 0.20, p = 0.85). The study concludes that unhealthy dietary behaviors are widespread among students regardless of gender, highlighting the need for targeted nutrition education and school-based health intervention programs.
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