Survey of Fast Food Consumption in Ardabil City

Increased fast food consumption has recently influenced community health. Therefore، understanding the reasons for fast food consumption، consumption rate، and preventing from their increasing consumption are very important. This study was conducted to survey the rate of fast food consumption among population of Ardabil city. For this analytical descriptive study، 200 healthy adults aged from 14 to 47 years were selected from different regions of Ardabil city using convenience sampling method. Data were collected by general and professional questionnaires using interview method. Validity of questionnaires was proved by specialists in the fields of health education and nutrition. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; ANOVA and Chi-square، in SPSS V. 16 software. The results showed that fast food consumption was significantly higher among residents of urban than rural areas (p<0. 05). Significant differences were observed between type and frequency of fast food consumption and individual''s occupations well as the type of consumed fast food and educational levels (p<0. 05). No significant difference was found between type of consumed fast food and age of the subjects. The results indicated that fast food consumption is common among all occupations and the studied subjects probably due to increasing involvement and shortage in time. Type of occupation and level of education can also affect the type and frequency of fast food consumption.