Factors Related to Eating Behavior of Men and Women in Tomohon, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Nearly 80% of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases occur in low and middle-income countries, including Indonesia. In 2007 the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Tomohon city was higher than national and provincial level, and in 2010 there were 18,548 cases of hypertension among 92,583 people in Tomohon city. Previous studies showed that eating unhealthy foods is significantly related to non-communicable diseases. Also, men and women had different eating behavior. Therefore, it is important to identify factors relating to eating behavior of men and women separately, especially in those who are at risk of non-communicable diseases, in order to decrease the prevalence of the diseases in Tomohon city. This study aimed to determine the factors related to eating behaviors of men and women in Tomohon, Indonesia.

Method: A cross-sectional design with multi stage sampling technique and a convenience sampling method was used. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire from 105 adult men and 184 women at seven sub-districts in Tomohon, Indonesia. Descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation were used for data analysis.

Result: The study revealed that the proportion of women having good eating behavior was higher than that of men (6.5% and 1.9%, respectively). Eating behavior of men had significant correlations with attitude (r = 0.404, p < 0.05) and perceived barriers avoiding unhealthy food (r = -0.530, p < 0.05). Eating behavior of women had significant correlations with attitude (r = 0.245, p < 0.05), perceived barriers to consuming healthy food (r = -0.340, p < 0.05), and perceived barriers to avoiding unhealthy food (r = -0.286, p < 0.05). There were no significant correlations between perceived benefit and eating behavior in either men or women (men: r = 0.071, p > 0.05, women: r = -0.057, p > 0.05).

Conclusion: There were still many men (18.1%) and women (3.8%) in Tomohon who had poor eating behavior. Therefore, Eating behavior of men and women in this group needs to be improved. Health promotion programs for this group should focus on attitude, and overcoming the barrier to consuming healthy food and avoiding unhealthy food to adopt good eating behaviors.