Media Information On Nutrition And Perceived Benefits By Adults Living In Benin Metropolis, Edo State, Nigeria

Salami L.I. and Ihensekhien Isoken

Department of Vocational and Technical Education, Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Background: media has an extremely powerful and challenging role to play in disseminating nutrition information. However, the media has not always increased the knowledge of the general population in Nigeria but due to the case of quack nutritionists, people are rather confused on the correct information.

Objective: The study examined the media information on nutrition and perceived benefits by adults living in Benin metropolis, Edo state.

Method: Survey research design was adopted for the study. Three (3) research questions were raised to guide the study. A total of four hundred and twenty eight thousand, six hundred and fifty (428,650) resident in Benin metropolis make up the population. Convenient sampling technique was used in selecting a sample size of five hundred and thirty (530) adults resident in Benin metropolis. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and cronbach alpha method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument, a coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. The questionnaire was administered and collected; the resulting data were presented using frequencies and percentages.

Result: Result showed that the media often used by respondents in Edo metropolis was the television/ radio followed by social and print media respectively. It was showed that the most sought information was on preventive and longevity/health issues.

Conclusion: Residents in Benin metropolis patronize the media for nutrition information. It was therefore recommended that enlightenment programmes should be organized for users of social media devices so as to get right information that are relevant to nutrition practices.