CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION HABITS AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

Chocolate is a unique flavoured food used in our society, it is also known as „food of Gods‟. It is prepared from the seeds of a plant Theobroma cacao. The most important ingredient of chocolate is cocoa, a Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulant. Cocoa also has a potency to make its user addicted to it. Chocolate is also aphrodisiac in nature.Theobroma Cacao is a native of the Amazon basin and other tropical areas of South and Central America. Chocolate tends to be associated with happiness or improved moodchanges.Although chocolate has been found to improve mood,it has been noted that it may also lead to negative feelings such as guilt.Science it is often perceived as an unhealthy treat due to its sugar and fat content.The Aim of the present study was to survey and analyse about the chocolate consumption habits among school students.The Cross sectional study was done on school students.This is an online based survey study and taken in English medium language.The sampling method used was simple random sampling method.13 Questionnaires were prepared and was administered through Google forms.The statistics used to analyse the results was descriptive statistics and chi square test using spsssoftware.The data was collected and statistically analysed.In a survey conducted among 100 school students,66% of the respondents belong to age group 13- 18 years,32% of the respondents belong to age group 9-12 years and 2% belong to age group 4-8 years.52% of the respondents answered that they consume chocolates,23% said that they don‟t consume chocolates and 26% consumed chocolates only sometimes.56% of the participants answered that they consume chocolates Every other day,24% answered Every week and 20% responded Every Day.From the survey we can conclude that, there is a high rate of chocolate consumption habits among the school students and hence there is an increased incidence of cavities.Awareness must be created among school students about the
right way of consuming chocolates.