Author(s)

Mamadou Saïdou Bah^*, Lebem Togtoga, Abdourahmane Ndong, Papa Djibril Ndoye, Khadim Niang, Papa Ndiaye

Department of Public Health and Social Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal.

Introduction: Eating habits are consolidated in early childhood and continue throughout life. Adolescence is a stage of rapid growth linked to puberty affected by the nutritional transition. This study aimed to evaluate the eating habits of high school students in the district of Bamako. Methodology: The cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from June 15 to July 4, 2023. The sample size was calculated with the StatCalc program of the Epi 7.2 software. Data was collected using a questionnaire on KoboCollect. Analyses were performed using SPSS 26 software. Results: A total of 2400 high school students were surveyed. The average age of high school students was 16.9 years ± 1.4. The median age was 17, with extremes of 14 and 19. Of the high school students, 53.3% were boys. The sex ratio (M/F) was 1.14. About 89.4% of high school students had a Smartphone. Among high school students, 51.1% did not engage in physical activity outside of high school. Rice was the cereal most consumed by high school students (99.2%). Consumption of fish and seafood was very low (25.5%). Soft drinks were consumed on average 4.2 days/week. In addition, 60.8% of high school students consumed energy drinks. Certain eating behaviors were found in this study, such as nibbling (38.5%), eating in front of screens (79.0%), and skipping meals (46.1%). Conclusion: The most consumed cereal by high school students was rice. The consumption of ultra-processed products and sedentary leisure are habits to be monitored in the context of the prevention of food-related non-communicable diseases among high school students in the district of Bamako.

Eating Habits, Behaviors, Nutrition, High School Students, Bamako

Bah, M. , Togtoga, L. , Ndong, A. , Ndoye, P. , Niang, K. and Ndiaye, P. (2023) Eating Habits of High School Students in the District of Bamako in the Context of Nutritional Transition. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 14, 865-879. doi: 10.4236/fns.2023.1410055.