Abstract:
Having felicitous knowledge and positive attitude on food safety with proper execution of safe food
handling practices since childhood make school children more confident in facing food safety risks as
adults in future. This work was conducted to assess and analyse the relationship between some
selected socio-demographic factors on the food safety knowledge, attitude and practices among
school children in Colombo Education Zone, Sri Lanka. Data were collected using a self-
administered questionnaire which contained 44 close ended questions on four basic areas; students‟
experiences with food preparation, students‟ attitude on food safety, students‟ food safety knowledge
and their self-reported practices. Three hundred and eighty volunteer students (14-16 years old) from
government schools of Colombo Education Zone were participated in the study. Three Scores were
given to evaluate food safety knowledge, attitude and practices of students separately. The mean food
safety knowledge, attitude and practice scores of students were 59.94 ± 0.83, 84.33 ± 0.44, 79.59 ±
0.61 respectively. Mann-Whitney u test indicated gender wise significant differences in food safety
knowledge score (p = 0.035) and food safety practice score (0.000). Positive correlations were found
(p < 0.05) between food safety knowledge score and parents‟ education background, student‟s
academic ranking, Science marks. Significant positive correlations were shown between food safety
practice score and student‟s academic ranking, Science marks. Similarly positive correlation-
coefficients were recorded between food safety attitude score and parents‟ education background and
students‟ Science marks. Results from the regression model indicated that food safety knowledge
score significantly decreased if education level of parents, academic rank and Science marks of
students (p < 0.05) are decreased. Although food safety knowledge score of males is higher than
females, poor food safety practices were common among males and students with lower Science
marks (p < 0.05). In conclusion, gender, parents‟ education background, students‟ academic ranking
and Science marks can be effectively used as parameters to further improve food safety knowledge,
attitude and practices among school children.
Keywords: Food safety; Knowledge; Practices; Attitude; Socio-demographic factors; School children
