Food additives are commonly added to foods to improve or maintain the safety, freshness, taste, texture, and appearance of foods. The use of food additives can improve the nutritional profile, lower the price of foods, and increase the variety of food products. High and uncontrolled intake of food additives is associated with various health consequences, especially for children. There is a lack of knowledge about dietary habits related to food additives among Palestinian school-age students. The aim of this study is to investigate the dietary habits of schoolchildren (aged 9-13 years) and their relationship with food additives. The study targeted 60 students who used a questionnaire to collect data on food additives and dietary habits. The study found that chocolate products were consumed most frequently with an average frequency of 4.5 times/week, followed by carbonated beverages with a frequency of 4 times/week. About 26% of students always ate breakfast. More than 36% of students rarely ate breakfast. Ready-to-cook pasta was found to be the most common meal for breakfast. In general, students mainly eat processed foods with low nutrient density and high calorie content. The study showed that students do not pay attention to nutritional quality when selecting their food and focus only on sensory perception. Based on label analysis, it was found that students consume more than 20 different types of food additives per week. In conclusion, the study shows that students are highly dependent on processed foods, which are characterized by a large number of food additives, high calorie content, and low nutritional quality.

Conference Title

AHI EVRAN International Conference on Scientific Research

Conference Country

Turkey

Conference Date

Oct. 21, 2022 - Oct. 23, 2022

Conference Sponsor

INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL RESEARCH Republic of Turkey

Additional Info

Conference Website