Psychological determinants of fast-food consumption among male students of Khoy city high schools: an application of the theory of planned behavior

Calorie and fatty food consumption, and an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, increases the risk of obesity and chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate psychological determinants of consumption of fast foods using the theory of planned behavior in high school students in the city of Khoy.
Cross-sectional study was conducted among 160 high school students. Sampling was multistage random sampling. For the collection information were used from the reliability and validity of the questionnaire "Planned Behavior" that consists of three parts: a) demographics, b) questions related to the constructions of the theory of planned behavior and c) behavior questions. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and t-test, ANOVA and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and linear regression to predict the behavior in a significant level of p The results of this study showed that fast food consumption among students was 98.1 percent, which among them 23.8 percent once a week and 10.6 percent 2-3 times a week used fast foods. Also, results showed that behavioral intention and beliefs of behavioral are able to predict 54% of variations behavior of fast foods consumption. Between the structures of the theory of planned behavior the most important predictor of behavioral intention, evaluation of behavioral outcomes was that together with economic situation were able to predict 45% of behavioral intention.
This study showed a high consumption of fast foods in school children of Khoy. In designing nutrition education interventions aiming at decreasing fast food consumption in this group, it is better to put more emphasis on strategies to promote behavioral intention and beliefs of behavioral students.