Food and beverage advertising among young people
Researcher Profile: Dr Priscilla Cheputyo
(MBChB, MPH-N)
Topic: Exposure to fast food and beverage advertising and its relationship with food choices of university students in selected Ugandan universities.
Unit: Makerere University School of Public Health
Programme: Master of Public Health Nutrition (MPH-N)
Supervisors: Dr Henry Wamani & Dr Gloria Seruwagi
Summary Background: Recent studies conducted within Kampala show that areas around schools and places frequented by young people have a high density of advertisements for fast foods and beverages. This research assessed whether there is a relationship between exposure to fast food and beverages and food choices of young people in four selected Universities in Mukono and Kampala. It used a cross- section study design with study participants conveniently selected. The study assessed exposure to adverts of fast foods and beverages and food choices. The results from this study provided empirical evidence to inform Uganda’s food advertising and policy/regulatory landscape.
Motivation: I am a medical doctor by training and this work formed my dissertation for the Master of Public Health Nutrition (MPH-N) degree at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH). Prior to joining this graduate Program, I actively worked as a Clinician at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu and later Aga Khan University Hospital Outreach Medical Centers in Kampala.
I have a strong passion for realizing a world filled with healthy and well nourished individuals. One of the most difficult things I had to do as a medical doctor was to explain to a young person that I was going to initiate them on life-long medication for a chronic condition that would have been prevented if they just ate the “right foods”. One of the most common questions I had to scratch my head, in attempt to get an appropriate answer for my patients, still re-echoes in my head: “Doctor, if I stopped eating these unhealthy foods and started exercising vigorously, can’t these help me recover from this illness and discontinue these medications?” Despite how easy how the answer seemed, it was always tough getting a response that would not discourage my patients. These experiences significantly shaped my interest in human nutrition and the health of young people. My graduate research built on this interest and commitment to contribute in improving the health and well-being of young people.
Completed in 2022, Dr Cheputyo’s research was nested under the FACe-U Project
