Consumption and emotions among college students toward chocolate product

Abstract

This study examined college students’ consumption frequency of different amounts of chocolate. It measured emotions related to consumption including guilt, craving, hunger, mindfulness and investigated how these are related to demographics including age, race, education, body mass index, and exercise frequency. A total of 89 college students complete a 53-item questionnaire. The survey was administered online through Qualtrics Survey Software. Of the 89 participants, ages ranged from 18–64, 72 participants (82%) were white. The mean (SD) mindfulness score was 36.3 (13.2), craving score was 25.0 (7.1), guilt score 28.4 (18.8) and hunger score 8.1 (2.4). There was a significant association between age and guilt (p = 0.012) and age (p = 0.002) and education (p = 0.006) and hunger. In conclusion, age was found to be the most significant factor related to chocolate consumption and the emotions associated including hunger and guilt.

Keywords

• chocolate consumption
• college students
• emotions
• nutrition counseling