Factors influencing the feeding habits and daily consumption of meat among university students in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Abstract

There is a dearth of information on factors influencing the feeding habits and daily consumption of
meat among university students in the Eastern Cape Province (ECP) of South Africa. As a result, this
study was conducted by administering questionnaires to a total of 150 respondents from the black
dominated and the white dominated Universities in the ECP. The results revealed that students from
black dominated University (35%) showed more inclinations towards self-catering. Most of the males
(80%) between 18 and 38 years, consumed above the recommended daily meat intake. On the contrary,
female students from the white dominated university indicated higher preference for fast food due to
availability of more disposable income and personal ethics. Probit regression model (χ2
:(9)
64.07(0.0000). Log likelihood: -52.860879 Pseudo R2
:37.73) showed that age (0.0506), monthly
allowances (0.0002), amount spent on food (-0.0004), campus location (0.6587) and consumption of
close substitutes such as fish (-3.3067) and vegetables (-86.4090) were significant determinants of meat
consumption among university students