Behaviors, motivations and food attitudes of the school board of Montreal Youth

Purpose: To study the behaviours, motivations and attitudes of students in grades 5 and 6 and secondary school in the Commission scolaire de Montreal [Montrwal school board] (CSDM) regarding diet. Methods: Data was collected from CSDM students over a six-week period through two questionnaires. The youths were questioned about their food service eating habits, their dietary motivations, their stage of change regarding the quality of their diet and their interest in culinary and nutrition activities. Results: The results indicate that more students consider taste to be important when selecting foods. More younger students choose their foods to manage their weight. Most youths have cared about the quality of their diet for some time and the opinion of their peers seems to have little influence on their food choices. Conclusions: This study confirms that there are a variety of factors that influence the eating practices of youth. The results suggest courses of action for CSDM food services.