Full Project - KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG VENDORS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ESAN WEST LGA, EDO STATE - AZ Research Consult (MBA MSc Dissertation/thesis Project Writer) Nigeria

Full Project – KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG VENDORS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ESAN WEST LGA, EDO STATE

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The need to strengthen food safety and hygiene practices is a fundamental public health concern for all for the prevention of food borne diseases. World Health Organization (WHO) (1999) defines food as any substance, whether processed, semi processed or raw which is intended for human consumption. In a similar view, Akande (2002) defines food as any substance, prepared and eaten by people to take care of their physiological needs. Also, Ohiokpehai (2004) describes food as any thing liquid or solid material which when taken and digested can provide the body with nourishment. It can be deduced form the above definitions that food is any substance eaten that can provide the body with its needs. It follows that food as a basic human need must be wholesome and safe. This is because good and adequate food promotes good health while poor and adulterated food substances are potential hazards to human health.

Food adulteration is a major public health problem which affects the quality of life of people specially school children. Food borne diseases are serious health hazards and major causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing countries of which Nigeria is one. Bhat (2005) reveals that incidence of food borne diseases outbreak is due to micro-organisms like salmonella, campylobacter jejuni or Norwalk virus. For instance, microbiological examination of various food items served by the food vendors in various parts of India indicated the presence of micro-organisms. According to Ankleshwaris (1999) food adulteration here refers to mixing of food with other substances that may be harmful to human consumption by food vendors.

Food vending helps in providing essential services to many of the urban inhabitants such as site workers, labourers, street dwellers, market traders as well as school children. Food vendors according to Lathan (1997) are small scale entrepreneurs normally seen in a simple set up facilities or stalls in public places in order to provide quick and cheap services to the people. The food vendors operate both in urban

and rural schools, where they set-up their stalls adjacent to the schools or operate under a nearby tree. They provide different food varieties like rice, beans, okpa, agidi, ice cream, snacks among others. People who patronize such foods are more interested in their convenience than their safety and hygiene.

Food vending is increasingly becoming popular perhaps due to some vital roles it plays such as providing of quick and cheap food services to the people as well as creating employment opportunities for women. Ohiokpehai, (2004) while acknowledging the vital role played by food vendors to the city dwellers observes that such foods can pose significant health hazards to the people due to the vendors lack of food hygiene practices.

Liu (2007) describes hygiene as a science that is concerned with environmental cleanliness of an individual or group or organization members to maintain healthy living. In this study hygiene is seen as all efforts towards ensuring good surrounding in order to prevent the occurrence of diseases or other health hazards. Thus hygiene entails keeping once environment to avoid the ill-health of disease for a healthy living in the society. Muinde (2005) observes that food vending plays important role in the cities and towns of many developing countries in meeting the demands of the city dwellers. Millions of people are fed daily with a wide range of foods that are relatively cheap and easily accessible regardless of the status of the food they eat form the vendors.

Vendors are not regulated by the local council health authorities, thus they operate without any monitoring of what they prepare and how they prepare them. Yet, they are found operating in the primary school premises where school children fall the victim of buying the food. Simoons (2006) assert that school children exposed to poor and unhygienic diets not only experience poor health but also retarded academic development. Simoons also states that body first uses energy to maintain critical organs functioning. It appears that poor families spend proportionately more of their income buying food from food vendors. Unfortunately, these cheaper foods are generally the least nutritious. They are often fatty-oily foods, high in salt and sugar and un-hygienically prepared. The food stuffs as a result of poor storage are contaminated and vending of such food to school children and other people endangers their health.

Agba (1994) observes that unhygienic practices by food vendors expose children to diseases like vomiting, abdominal pains, diarrhea and other forms of health risks in the environment. Although school children enjoy food from these food vendors, in many cases the food is of poor quality and it poses a serious health risk to the school children. Food vendors provide the bulk of these children snacks, breakfast, lunches in many schools in Esan west LGA. Agba (1994) states that some of the primary schools are located at far away from the children homes, hence most of them leave early for school without breakfast, thus they depend most of the time on foods sold around the premises by these vendors. Agba also observes that the food vendors use dirty water to wash their plates and pour out dirty water around their surrounding. Some of them equally appear in dirty clothes, and unkept hair.

The unhygienic practices in the preparation, cooking, serving and storage of food often lead to the contamination of food with pathogens and substances, that result in infection and diseases in the person that eats the food especially school children. These unhygienic practices by food vendors in the schools expose the pupils who eat their food to the risk of contamination of diseases like diarrhea, constipation among others. As a result the researcher is interested in finding out approaches needed to enhance the hygiene practices of food vendors in public primary schools in Esan west LGA of Edo State.

Statement of the problem

The practices of food vendors especially within public primary schools premises generate a lot of concern to the general public. Children are ignorant of unhygienic food and may not be concerned about the health hazard of what they buy and eat in the schools. Many food vendors in public primary schools are found not keeping adequate hygiene practices not only in their preparation but in the exhibition of their products for sale.

From the researcher’s observation and experience some of them have unkept hairs, dirty foot wears, spit and cough without the use of hand kerchief, leave foods open to flies and use dirty water to wash utensil in unhygienic environment. The above condition often leads to food contamination with substances that may result to infection and diseases among the school children. These activities of the food vendors call for urgent actions in the school environment. The problem of this study therefore put in a question form is: What are the approaches to be adopted to improve the hygiene practices of food vendors in public primary schools?

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and practice of food hygiene among vendors in public primary schools in Esan West LGA, Edo state.

Specifically, this study is designed to:

identify food hygiene practices needed by good vendors to operate in public primary schools.

identify personal hygiene practices needed by food vendors to operate in public primary school.

identify environmental hygiene practices needed by food vendors to operate in public primary schools.

suggest approaches that should be adopted in enhancing

the hygiene practices needed by food vendors in public primary schools.

Significance of the study

The theoretical significant of this study is anchored on social learning and Humoral theory of food and culture respectively. The principles of the two theories place emphasis on acquisition of knowledge and behaviour change through interaction with the environment. The practical significance of the study would be of immense benefits to the following

Ministry of Health, food vendors, parents, school children, researchers and the entire society. The findings would enable the Health Ministry authorities to be aware and appreciate the roles and problems of food vendors in the public primary schools. This will help them to come up with good policy intervention to promote food safety measures in the various school environments where the food vendors operate.

The findings would help food vendors to adopt good hygiene practices that will prevent food contamination. It would provide them with the skills to ensure proper food hygiene as well as the need for them to maintain their personal and environmental cleanliness where they cell their products.

The parents who give their children pocket money would also benefit. This will assure them of the quality and safe food sold to their children in the schools. The children themselves would benefit from the findings. They would be offered good quality and safe food by the vendors in the schools. The good quality food would help to improve their nutritional status.

Researchers interested in other areas of food research would find the findings as useful background knowledge in the area. The findings would benefit the entire society. This would go a long way in reducing the outbreak of food poisoning. It would enable the people to appreciate the need for food safety through adopting proper food preparation under better hygienic conditions in their homes.

Scope of the study

This study covered the food vendors in public primary schools in Esan west LGA. The study examined the hygiene practices of food vendors with particular interest on food hygiene practices, personal hygiene practices and environmental hygiene practices of food vendors in public primary schools in Esan west LGA. The study also examined approaches for food hygiene practices that food vendors would adopt to enhance the hygiene practices in public primary schools.

Research questions

The following research questions guided the study.

What are the food hygiene practices needed by food vendors to operate in public primary schools?

What are the personal hygiene practices needed by food vendors to operate in public primacy schools?

What are the environmental hygiene practices needed by food vendors to operate in public primary schools?

What other approaches are needed to enhance the hygiene practices of food vendors in public primary schools?

Hypothesis

There is no significant difference between the mean rating of food vendors and teachers with regard to approaches for enhancing hygiene practices of food vendors in public primary schools in Esan west LGA.

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Full Project – KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG VENDORS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ESAN WEST LGA, EDO STATE

Full Project – KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG VENDORS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ESAN WEST LGA, EDO STATE

Full Project – KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG VENDORS IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ESAN WEST LGA, EDO STATE

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