Acceptability and consumption of tofu as a meat alternative among secondary school boarders in Enugu State, Nigeria: Implications for nutritional counseling and education

Tofu, a food made of condensed soymilk that originated in China, has both nutritional and health benefits. The main objective of this study was to determine the acceptability and consumption of tofu as a meat alternative among students in boarding secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. In this study, the authors adopted a cross-sectional analytic design. A representative sample of 603 adolescents in the boarding secondary schools took part in the study. Power analysis was conducted to estimate the appropriate sample size for the current study. Correlations analysis, moderation analysis, χ(2), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and t tests were employed for the analysis of the data. Students’ acceptance of the 3 cooking options of tofu (steamed, boiled, and fried) did not significantly differ by gender. It was found that 94.5% of the respondents recognized the benefits of tofu; there is no significant difference between the male and female students on the extent to which they would eat tofu in school; the recognition of benefits of tofu is not significantly associated with acceptance of steamed, boiled, and fried tofu among the students; and the recognition of benefits of tofu is not significantly associated with consumption of tofu among the students. The finding further revealed that gender did not significantly moderate the association between recognition of benefits of tofu and students’ acceptability of tofu. Also, it was found that gender did not significantly moderate the association between recognition of benefits of tofu and consumption of tofu among students. Further research is needed to identify the level of tofu acceptability and consumption among adolescents in boarding secondary schools in other states of Nigeria. Further research on factors influencing how recognition of benefits of tofu is associated with its acceptability among the Nigerian student population can have implications for nutritional counseling and regional health.