Abstract:
Nutrition knowledge of waiters and chefs in restaurants is important for public health
as number of meals consumers eat away from home is on the rise. The study aimed at
assessing the nutritional knowledge of waiters and chefs in some selected restaurants
in the Birim Central Municipality. Descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used
for the study. The target population consisted of waiters, chefs and consumers of all
the 50 licensed restaurants operating in Birim Central Municipality. Purposive
sampling technique was used in selecting 169 waiters and 80 chefs from the various
selected restaurants. Convenience sampling technique was used in selecting 278
customers. Questionnaire was developed to obtain the relevant information from the
respondents. The study indicated the chefs and waiters at the various restaurants in
Birim Central Municipality had knowledge on nutrition. The finding indicated that
chefs and waiters perceived that good nutrition improves individual wellbeing, helps
growth and manage a healthy weight, and increase an individual’s energy level. The
study discovered that there was a significant difference (t= 6.832, df=169, p=0.000
[p<0.05]) between knowledge on nutrition and gender of chefs and waiters. However,
the mean difference between chefs and waiters knowledge on nutrition in different age
group shows no significant association value (F(df)=1.743, p=0.083>0.05). Also, a
significant difference was found between the educational level of chefs and waiters on
their knowledge of nutrition (F(df)=2.735 , P=0.005<0.01). The study concluded that
the nutritional knowledge of chefs and waiters have effect on consumers patronage of
the restaurant. It was recommended that the management of the restaurants should work
together with the chefs and waiters to find innovative ways to improve chefs and
waiter’s knowledge and attitude towards nutrition in order to convince the public on
making healthful selections when eating out.
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM EDUCATION,
Faculty of VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, submitted to the School of Graduate
Studies, University of Education, Winneba, and in partial fulfillment of requirement
for the award of the Master of Technology (Catering and Hospitality) degree.
APRIL, 2021