Ön Lisans Öğrencilerinin Hazır Gıda Tüketim Tercihlerinin Araştırılması: Namık Kemal Üniversitesi Örneği.

The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of fast-food consumption of university students, the reasons for consumption, the factors affecting the reasons for consuming ready-made food, and to determine the interaction rates of age groups and housing conditions with these factors. Students studying at Namık Kemal University Vocational School of Technical Sciences constitute the sample of the research. For this purpose, a face-to-face survey study was conducted with 326 students in the period covering December-January of the 2022-2023 academic year. According to the results of the research, a statistically significant relationship was found between the age groups of the participants and the frequency of consumption of ready-made food, the reason for consumption, the age of starting ready-made food consumption, the rate of preference for discounted products, and their comments on whether ready-made food is produced according to food legislation. In addition, the participants' accommodation status and the way of obtaining ready-made food, the rate of consumption of readymade food during the examination period, the consumption of ready-made food, the evaluation of the price of ready-made food, the rate of preference for discounted products, their comments on whether additives are used in ready-made food, gender, Height mass index (BMI)) was found to be statistically significant. Students generally stated that they consume ready-made food because it is practical, saves time, has a reasonable price, finds it delicious, consumes it with pleasure, because it has a large variety and for its nutritional value. In recent years, the increasing importance of time and the change in eating habits have increased the fast-food consumption of university youth. In our study, students in the 18-25 age group consumed ready-made food more frequently, while students over 50 stated that they consumed ready-made food once a month. This shows that nutritional preferences vary significantly with age range. It is very important to provide students with healthy eating habits, to improve their level of nutrition knowledge, and to reduce the risk of obesity. In our study, we aimed to determine the frequency of fast-food consumption of university students, the reasons for consumption, the factors affecting the reasons for consuming ready-made food, and to determine the interaction rates of age groups and housing conditions with these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]