Acknowledgment

Firstly, we would like to thank our dearly Academic Report Writing lecturer,

Madam Nik Aloesnita Binti Nik Mohd Alwi a lot for her continued supports and

guidance of our Academic Report Writing project over this semester. We are truly

appreciating the opportunity given to complete this project. Not to forget, we would also

like to thank to all of our friends that are involved in giving us support in finishing this

project. Furthermore, to our parents that had contribute their time, support and spirit to all

of us. Thank you very much to all that had involved directly or even indirectly in our

projects. By making this project to come to an end, we had learned so many experiences

that someday we can use or implement them in our future life either for our further

studies or in the job industries. It is a real joy to be able to synthesize one’s experience in

the creative form of the written word. Thank you once again.

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Table of Contents

TITLE PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT i

TABLE OF CONTENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

INTRODUCTION 1

LITERATURE REVIEW 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 8

CONCLUSION 12

REFERENCES 14

APPENDICES 16

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Abstract

‘The Choices of Fast Food among UMP Students’ is a research made to determine

what types of fast foods that UMP students choose as their main choice. The reason why

researchers choose this topic is that the fast food franchise is mostly preoccupied by the

youngsters or students. Researchers explained and showed the percentage on the highest

type of fast food is chosen and the factors contribute to the choosing of such fast food.

Not only that, a comparison is made and analyzed about the amount of fast food lovers

between male and female students. The data is collected by distributing questionnaires to

the respondents who consist of male and female students. A bar chart is used to show the

differences in gender between fast food lovers in order to answer the research question.

Meanwhile, the pie chart is used to show the highest fast food consumes by students and

the factors involved in choosing the fast food.

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

Fast food is a food that can be easily cooked, eaten quickly, taken away and

readily available alternatives to home cooking. It is very convenient as most people today

have less time to select, prepare and eat food than their grandparents did. Fast foods are

very appealing because they are widely available and inexpensive (cited University

Maryland Medical Centre). Moreover, you can buy fast food just about anywhere that

sells food and snacks. For example, vending machines, drive-thru restaurants and 24 hour

convenience stores are probably the most common and easier places to find fast food.

While convenient and inexpensive for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in

calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt instead of nutritious foods such as lean meats,

fresh fruit and vegetables.

Although high fat diets, typical of fast food meals, contribute to a variety of

negative and costly health outcomes, including obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease

and some cancers yet still popular among teens. With the increase in consumption of high

fat and calorie foods, there is usually a decreased intake of foods rich in nutrients such as

fruits and vegetables. However, fast food chains and restaurants have responded to the

public's increasing awareness about nutrition and have attempted to help people

concerned about health. Eating away from home is becoming more common and fast

food restaurant use in particular is growing even more rapidly. But, why the fast food is

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the most popular among teens? So, this title has been chosen to discover what makes the

fast food really popular among teens as well as the choices of fast food that preferred by

teens.

1.2 Research Objective

1. To analyze the best choice of fast food among UMP students

2. To examine the factors of choosing such fast food

3. To analyze the highest fast food consuming between gender in adolescent

1.3 Research Question

1. What is the best choice of fast food among UMP students?

2. What are the factors of choosing such fast food?

3. Who consumes the highest fast food, either male or female adolescent?

1.4 Definition of Terms

1. Choice : An act of choosing between two or more people or things.

2. Fast food : Food that can be served very quickly in special restaurants and is often

taken away to be eaten in the street.

3. Students : A person who is studying at a university.

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1.5 Organization of Report

This report contains three main sections which are the introduction, literature

review and research methodology. The first section is introduction. In the introduction, an

overview of what is all about the research is explained including the research objectives,

research questions as well as definition of the terms of the title selected. The second

section is the literature review which where the researchers collected the secondary data

from to support the research questions. In this literature review section, all the relevant

literatures to the research questions have been chosen. Then, the researchers summarize

and give the opinion and evaluation to the criticized questions. The third which is the last

section is the research methodology section. In this section, there includes settings, data

collection and data analysis. In settings, the researchers explained about the participants

background which are the number or sample of participants, the scope of the study been

conducted and how is the sample of participants been choosed for example in randomly.

While in the data collection, the researchers explained the procedures of how the data

have been collected, the survey questions have been designed and the questionnaire has

been distributed. In the data analysis, all the data that have been collected from the

participants will be analyzed and depicts them in a diagram that shows the findings.

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2.0 Literature Review

According to Larson, et. Al (2008) “ the frequent intake of fast food among males

increased about 9% during adolescence to in an early young adulthood which is from

24% to 33%,while females reported none of further increased. Larson, et. al (2008)

also observed that factors associated with changes in fast food intake are personal

concern about health, behavioral and socioenvironmental but out of all of them

frequency of snacking was the only factor found to be associated with higher fast

food intake in both gender. Bryant and Dundes (2008) believe to that notion and add

that both sexes deemed value to be priority. Therefore, it appears that influences from

peers for unhealthy eating brings to the higher fast food intake among males while for

females the decreases in fast food intake is due to their concern towards healthy

lifestyle.

French, Story, Neumark-Sztainer, Fulkerson and Hannan (2001) indicate that

those who never eating at a fast food restaurant associate with lower energy intake

and more consistent of nutritional quality compared to those who consuming fast food

on a regular basis. Bowman and Vinyard (2004) agrees to that notion and adds that a

significant, positive association was seen between fast food consumption and

overweight status while Driskell, Meckna and Scales (2006) emphasize that

individual can still consumes food items that are lower in calories and fats in the fast

food restaurant because these types of items are available. Refers to the fact, it

appears that, eating fast food associates to overweight status and other health’s

problems. But, agrees that there are still options of choosing nutrional food in fast

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food restaurant nowadays.

To quote Yahia, Achkar, Abdallah and Rizk (2008) “ students often select fast

food due to its palatability, availability and convenience. Daily intake of snacks was

reported by the majority of students”. This really support the fact by Larson et. Al

(2008). Thornton, Bentley and Kavanagh (2009) agrees to this notion and add that

students also choose fast food due to attitudes, taste and variety of fast food. This fact

also accepts by Morse and Driskell (2009) and reveal that another factors contribute

to the fast food consumption are inexpensive and economical. Rydell et. Al (2008)

later summarizes this by stating the most frequently reported reasons for eating at fast

food restaurants were fast food is quick (92%), restaurants are easy to get to (80%),

and food tastes good (69%). The least frequently reported reasons were eating fast

food is a way of socializing with family and friends (33%), restaurants have nutritious

foods to offer (21%), and restaurants are fun and entertaining (12%). Therefore it

appears that the main contribution to the fast food consumption among adolescents is

quick and convenience. This is very relates to the modern lifestyle now where people

have lack of time to serve and prepare for food.

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3.0 Research Methodology

3.1 Settings

In this research, the participants who are involved to answer the questionnaire are

University Malaysia Pahang (UMP) students only. The scope of the study will be

conducted in the university itself. About 60 samples of participants will be picked from

six faculties in the university. The six faculties in UMP are faculty of Mechanical,

faculty of Electric and Electronic, faculty of Computer System and Software

Engineering, faculty of Civil, faculty of Chemistry and faculty of Manufacturing

Engineering and Technology Management. From each faculty, about 10 samples of

participants will be picked randomly which are 5 samples for each males and females.

3.2 Data collection

For the purpose of this research, there are basically two types of data that have

been collected. The first which is the primary data, the instrument proposed to collect

these data is questionnaire. This questionnaire will consist of 10 questions which are

associated with the three research questions posed. Since there are three research

questions, we divided all the ten questions into three parts that relate to the research

questions. Basically, the close-ended type of survey questions are been used so that the

answers are easy to analyze statistically as they are easier to quantify. There are some of

the questions that have been designed by the researchers and also adapted from the

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Internet as they have to be relevant to each research questions posed. Besides that, there

are some questions that the researchers have collected from the review of the literature to

make sure the questions are valid and reliable. After the researchers had finalized the

survey questions, then they will be distributing it to the sample of participants. The

participants will be given a couple of time till the questionnaire been collected. The

secondary data is where the researchers collected from the review of the literature.

3.3 Data Analysis

The researchers will analyze the data collection by using the sample of ump

students for about sixty students between different gender and percentage method will be

use to examine the factors and choices of fast food. Then, the researchers will illustrate

them by using bar chart for determine the comparison of consuming fast food between

different genders and by using pie charts to get the most favourable choices of fast food

among UMP students and the highest factors of consuming fast food among these

adolescent as well as the least factor. Finally, the researchers will make summarization of

the result from the bar chart and pie chart to get the answers for the research questions.

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The Choices of Fast Food

30%

42%

18%

4%0% 6%

McDonald

KFC

Pizza Hut

Kenny RogersRoasterA&W

Burger King

4.0 Results And Discussion

4.1 Results

Figure 1 : The Choices of Fast Food

The pie chart above illustrates the choices of fast food which are selected by UMP

students as their favourites. According to the chart, KFC has the highest percentage that

was chosen by UMP students whereas A&W has the lowest percentage. As shown by the

chart, KFC make up a major portion of favourite fast food which is 42%, and this is

followed by McDonald which is 30% of the favourite fast food. 18% of UMP students

prefer to choose Pizza Hut, followed by Burger King which is 6% and Kenny Rogers

Roaster which is 4%. The least favourable of fast food is A&W which is 0%. It can be

concluded that KFC stated the most preferable fast food among adolescents which

contributed to its highest percentage as the most favourable fast food because most of the

adolescents prefer to choose chicken as their favourite type of fast food.

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Figure 2 : Factors of Choosing the Most Preferable Fast Food (KFC)

F ac tors of C hoos ing the Mos t P referable F as t F ood (K F C )

G ood tas te51%

G ood and fas t cus tomer s ervice

22%

C heaper8%

More c lean12%

Others7%

The pie chart above illustrates the factors of choosing the most preferable fast

food which is KFC. As shown by the chart, the factors are good taste, good and fast

customer service, cheaper, more clean and others factors. According to the pie chart, the

highest factor of choosing such fast food (KFC) is good taste which is 51% while the

second highest factor is good and fast customer service, 22%. The third highest factor is

more clean, 12% and the fourth highest factor is cheaper, 8%. While the least factor of

choosing the most preferable fast food (KFC) is others which account for 7%. It can be

concluded that the factor of choosing the most preferable fast food which is KFC among

UMP students is the good taste of the food itself.

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Figure 3 : The Frequency of Consuming Fast Food Between Gender

0

5

10

15

20

Students

0 1-5 >5

Frequency

The Frequency of Consuming Fast Food Between Gender

student

Male

Female

The bar graph above demonstrates the frequency of consuming fast food between

genders. As illustrated by the graph, the highest frequency of consuming fast food is

between one to five times and is consumes by male which is 66.67% whereas the female

make up to 53.33%. The lowest frequency stated by male and female is at 0 whish is 10%

for the male while 20% for the female. As for the frequency at higher than five times, the

highest consumers of fast food is female which is 10% while the male accounts for

6.67%. This clearly indicates that male is the one that consumes highest fast food

compared to female adolescents as due to factors like personal concerns about health,

behavioral and socioenvironmental. Male has lack of concerns towards healthy lifestyle

compared to female.

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4.2 Discussion

From the result shown in Figure1, KFC is the most selected choices among UMP

students as most of the students prefer to choose chicken and burger as their favorite type

of fast food. This is proven by the data collected in the questionnaire distributed which

are questions number two and nine that support the first research question. These

questions cannot be supported by the literature review as there are no any findings and

numbers regarding the most preferable fast food among UMP students.

From the second figure, the result shows that the factors that impact the choosing

of KFC is the good taste of the fast food itself. This is followed by good and fast

customer service. Moreover, this result well supported by Larson et. Al (2008) and

answered the second research question. Thornton, Bentley and Kavanagh (2009) agree to

this notion and add that students also choose fast food due to attitudes, taste and variety

of fast food. This fact also accepts by Morse and Driskell (2009). Therefore, it can be

concluded that the factor contributes to the fast food intake among adolescents is its taste

itself.

According to Larson, et. Al (2008) “the frequent intake of fast food among males

increased about 9% during adolescents to in an early young adulthood which is from 24%

to 33%, while females reported none of further increased. This fact really supported the

result shown in Figure3 and answered the third research question. In the other hand,

Bryant and Dundes (2008) believe to that notion and add that both sexes deemed value to

be priority. In conclusion, the male is the one that consumes highest fast food compared

to female adolescents.

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5.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, the researchers conclude that the best choice of fast food is

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as adolescents are very keen to choose chickens and

burgers as their most favorite type of fast food. Besides that, the researchers also have

found that the highest factor of choosing KFC as the best choice of fast food is the good

taste of the fast food (KFC) itself. For the contrasting between genders, the male make up

the highest consumers of fast food. This proved that male has lack of concerns towards

healthy lifestyle compared to female adolescents.

There are some limitations in this study for example the scope of the study

conducted is only in the University Malaysia Pahang. This may cause the data collection

is not really accurate and reliable as it is not conducted in a more wide area. The location

of university itself may also influence the results as it is near to the town area that where

the fast food restaurants available. Next, the samples of participants involved in this study

are small and this might contributes the findings to not well support the study. Besides

that, the researchers also have found the difficulties to create the relevant questions which

is associated to the research questions for the data collection method as good and reliable

questions are very important to make the analysis process easier. Other than that, it is also

difficult to get the findings from other researchers for the first research question of this

study which is the best choices of fast food.

For the future research, the researchers suggest that the scope of the study should

be conducted not in a small and specific area so that a large of data collection can be

collected. Next, when the study is conducted in a large area, the number of participants

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will be varied and much more and it is better as the result will be reliable. Besides that,

in creating the reliable questions that associated with the research questions, searching for

the right other resources besides through the net and consults the right person in charge

which are more professional and experience can be applied. Other than that, the

researchers also suggest that the research questions also need to be chosen carefully as

well as the title of the study by making a thorough research first so that the availability of

the information needed and the findings for the study are there and easier to find.

To conclude, this study shows that the best choice of fast food among UMP

students is Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) while the least choice is A&W. The highest

factor that affects the choosing of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is the good taste of

itself and the male adolescents is the one that consumes highest fast food compared to

female adolescents.

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References

Bowman, S.A. & Vinyard,B.T.(2004). Fast food consumption of U.S. adults: impact on energy and nutrient intakes and overweight status. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 23 (2), 163-168.

Bryant, R., & Dundes, L. (2006). Fast food perceptions: a pilot study of college students in Spain and United States. Appetite, 51 (2), 327-330. doi:10:1016/j.appet.2008.03.004

Driskell, J., A., Meckna, B., R., & Scales, N., E. (2006). Differences exist in the eating habits of university men and women at fast-food restaurant. Nutrition Research, 26 (10), 524-530.

French, S.A., Story,M., Sztainer, D.N., Fulkerson, J.A., & Hannan,P.(2001). Fast food restaurant use among adolescents:associations with nutrient intake, food choices and behavioral and psychosocial variables. International Journal Of Obesity.25(12), 1823-1833.

Larson, N.I., L, Neumark-Sztainer, D.R., Story, M.T. Story, Wall, M.M., Harnack, L.J., & Eisenberg, M.E.(2008). Fast food intake: longitudinal trends during the transition to young adulthood and correlates of intake.Journal of Adolescent Health.43(1), 79-86.

Morse, K., L., & Driskell, J., A. (2009). Observed sex differences in fast-food consumption and nutrition self-assessments and beliefs of college students. Nutrition Research,29 ( 3), 173-179.

Rydell, S., A., Harnack, L., J., Oakes, J., M., Story, M., Jeffery, R., W., & French, S., A. (2008). Why eat at fast-food restaurants: reported reasons among frequent customer. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 108 (12), 2066-2070.

Thronton, L. E., Bentley, R.J., & Kavanagh, A. M. (2008). Fast food purchasing and access to fast food restaurants: a multilevel analysis of VicLACNES. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Phisycal Activity 2009, 6:28. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-6-28

Yahia, N., Achkar, A., Abdallah, A., & Rizk, S. (2008). Eating habits and obesity among Lebanese university students. Nutrition Journal 2008, 7:32, doi:10.1186/1475-2891-7-32.

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iBizHelp24. (2005).Retrieved August 17, 2009, fromhttp://ww.bizhelp24.com/marketing/example- questionnaire -3.html

Fast Food Questionnaire. (2008).Retrieved August 17, 2009, fromhttp://ww.scribd.com/doc/6591633/ Fast - Food - Questionnaire

Riza (2008). Retrieved August 17, 2009, fromhttp://www.votapedia.com/index.php?title= Fast _ Food _ Questionnaire

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Appendices

Faculty: FKKSA/FKM/FKASA/FSKKP/FKEE/FKPPT Age: _

Gender: male female

1. Do you like to eat fast food?

Yes No

2. Which type of fast food that you more prefer?

McDonald Kenny Rogers Roaster

KFC A&W

Pizza Hut Burger King

3. Why do you choose such fast food as the most preferable compared to others’ fast

food?

Good taste

Good and fast customer service

Cheaper

More clean

Others. Please specify

___________________________________________________

4. What is the factor of choosing fast food?

Inexpensive

Quick & convenient

Behavioural

Peer influence

Good taste

Socioenvironmental

Nearer fast food outlet

5. Why do you not prefer fast food?

Personal concern towards healthy lifestyle

Socioenvironmental

Expensive

Behavioural

Peer support

Lack of nutritious intake

6. In a week, how often did you take fast food?

0 Times

1-5 Times

More than 5 times

7. What is your least favourite’s fast food restaurant?

McDonald Kenny Rogers Roaster

KFC A&W

Pizza Hut Burger King

8. To which restaurant are you loyal to?

McDonald Kenny Rogers Roaster

KFC A&W

Pizza Hut Burger King

9. What is your favourite type of fast food?

Burgers Soup

Pizza Salad

Chicken French fries

10. Do you think you eat fast food …………

Enough Never

Too much Should eat more

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COOPERATION.

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