A Study on Impact of Mass Media on Food Pattern and Food Choice of Private College Students

The present study was undertaken in Gurgaon district of Haryana state. From DPG Institute of Technology and Management (Private College), a total of 100 college going students of 17-21 year age were selected randomly for the study. Information regarding mass media interaction and eating habits was collected. Mobile phones were used for more than three hours daily by 66 per cent of the respondents followed by newspaper reading and TV watching for one hour daily by 46 and 35 per cent respondents, respectively. Majority of the respondents were watching movies (50%), music videos (48%), daily soaps (46%) and TV news (46%) very often. The data revealed that 34 per cent respondents had one meal outside home daily and 29 per cent skipped a meal daily. Majority of the respondents never had fruits/vegetables/juices or soft drinks/fast foods as a meal outside home.