Adolescent Eating Behavior in Depok City, West Java, Indonesia: Association between Eating Behavior to Availability, Affordability, and Convenience with Desire as an Intermediate Variable

Abstract

Eating behavior plays an important role in health during adolescence. Previous research explains that teenagers have the freedom to decide what to consume and do not always depend on parents or caregivers. While their diet is characterized by snacks and high-energy drinks and is largely cereal-based with limited fruit and vegetable intake. This research aims to analyze eating behavior among adolescents using the Theory of Reasoned Action approach. In TRA, eating behavior is related to beliefs about external factors namely the availability of selling outlets, food affordability, and convenience when buying at outlets that sell various foods, and the convenience while consuming popular/trending foods, and is also related to internal intentions in the form of the desire to consume. Using a cross-sectional design, this research involved 860 teenagers aged 16-18 years from 11 sub-districts in Depok City, Indonesia in 2023. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The desire to eat at a fast-food restaurant with siblings and close friends is the strongest and most consistent internal factor that mediates eating behavior with external factors. Fast food is sold in many outlets around teenagers at affordable prices. The desire to consume often appears when teenagers are hanging around with siblings or close friends. With these two subjects, teenagers bought popular/trending foods at outlets that sold a variety of foods. The popularity of food was then proven to have a significant association with the choice of food type and consumption intensity of adolescents.