A critical review of Ahamed et al, 2016, “General knowledge about proper eating habits among

local population”, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Vol 8(8), 909-913.

The title of the journal article is quite misleading as it suggests a wide populace which is
not the case as the study focuses solely on college students at Saveetha dental college. The
author does to an extent successfully justify the importance of knowledge on proper eating
habits by pointing out the adverse effects of lack of it as cited by (Isaacs & Swartz, 2010).
However, the author unknowingly debilitates the importance of the study by pointing out
existing measures being implemented from a similar study done on a much larger stage
(globally) by (World Health Orginasation, 2011). The aim of the study is not depicted at all by
the journal article as different postulates are mentioned in the introduction but the author does
not clearly mention which one the study is focusing on. Furthermore, the author in no way
mentions the research questions that will control the scope of the research and as such one gets
the idea that the research was haphazardly conducted.

The size of the population is not mentioned anywhere in the article. The major characteristics
of the focus population is not depicted anywhere in the article as well. However the number of
students selected as the sample size is mentioned. The author did not acquire enough relevant
demographic data from the participants e.g. weight. Although the sample size of 65 is
mentioned, there is no clear sampling procedure mentioned to how this 65 individuals were
selected. The article mentions “anonymous selection” meaning it cannot be clearly deciphered
if this sample represents an unbiased selection of the original focus population. Most
importantly it can be clearly seen that the individuals who participated in the research where
all volunteers as such one might conclude that the representative sample might have been
biased.

The data collection method used was questionnaires but without research questions or a
hypothesis, the questionnaire formulation was likely not properly guided. Since the sample was
formulated of college students who we can infer were all literal, giving them self- administered
questionnaires can be considered an appropriate data collection method. However, giving the
students very limited time to answer the questionnaire means the author was not able to draw
on the full time benefits of using questionnaires which likely contributed to the students not
completing the questionnaire.

The author must be lauded for extensively representing all the data acquired in simple tables
that readers can understand. The results indeed cover a vast majority of areas that are believed
to affect individuals eating habits although the author did not cover all these likely eating habit
factors previously in literature review or introduction. It must be noted however that the results
depicts only the lifestyle of the participants but not their knowledge on healthy eating habits.

The explanations provided for each of the tables is quite banal as it simply states the results the
tables show and postulates no exact reasons for such results. The author corroborates the eating
habits factors discovered by citing their close relation to (Kesten & Scherwitz, 2005)
underlying elements of eating behaviours. The author debilitates the importance of the journal
article by citing (Kesten & Scherwitz, 2005) postulation that research only on having food
knowledge is not adequate but must be supported with research on importance of awareness of
the environmental cues, emotional triggers and learned food behaviours on poor eating habits
and styles. The article correctly identifies its lack of practical steps to be taken to improve
general knowledge of eating habits and proposes for future research to be done along such
lines.

The conclusion clearly and accurately depicts findings of the research that food-label reading,
health awareness, healthy lifestyle behaviour, psychological state are factors affecting eating
habits. However conclusions such as the need for exercise which is not linked to any findings
warrants concern that the author included personal opinions in the conclusion and did not draw
conclusions only from the findings of the study. The conclusion mentions quite often on
increasing eating habits awareness among the public but does not mention any practical ways
that this can be done in an entertaining manner to the public.

Overall it can be said that the information gleaned from this journal article is of significance.
However it is very clear to any reader that the research was not properly directed or conducted.
The findings of the research although of significance does not really cover the intended
problem the author intended. The research does not identify the level of knowledge the
populace has concerning eating habits as intended by the author in his statement in the abstract
of the journal article. Furthermore there are no actual recommendations on what should be done
in improving the general knowledge of eating habits that the populace has.
REFERENCES
Isaacs, S., & Swartz, A. (2010). On the front lines of childhood obesity. Am J Public Health.

Kesten, D., & Scherwitz, L. (2005). Seven eating styles linked to overeating, overweight, and
obesity. Explore, 342-359.

World Health Orginasation. (2011). Global strategy on diet, health and physical activity.
Retrieved from WHO homepage:
www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/implementation/toolbox/en/index.html