THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD VENDORS IN ABIA STATE NIGERIA

Educational intervention on food industry personnel on hygiene has been recommended as a means of improving food handling practices and food safety. This is because human handling errors are responsible for the major outbreaks of food poisoning and food-borne illnesses in developing and developed countries. The study aim toassess the impact of education on knowledge, attitude and practice of food vendors in study Areas in Abia State Nigeria. This study adopted a quasi-experimental study research design which involved one experimental group and one control group for the selection of the 52 food handlers in the five selected Local Government Areas in Abia State. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire and an observational checklist. Descriptive analysis was done with frequencies and summary statistics, T-test and independent sample test was computed to determine the mean difference and significant relationship of variables. Level of significance was set at 0.05 significant levels.Themean knowledge score of the control group was 4.02 ± 1.55 while the mean knowledge score of the experimental group was 7.92 ± 2.50 before the intervention. The difference between the means of the two groups was statistically significant (t=9.28; p=0.000). Also, the mean attitude score was 37.58 ± 3.31 in the control while mean attitude score was 37.79 ± 5.10 in the subjects. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant (t=0.24; p=0.813). The mean practice score was 8.21 ± 2.69 in the control group while the mean practice score was 8.73 ± 4.76 in the experimental group. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant (t=0.67; p=0.506).After the intervention, the mean knowledge score for the experimental group was 9.02 ± 1.58 while that of the control group was 5.55 ± 1.54. The difference between the group was statistically significant (t= 11.03; p=0.000). The mean attitude score for the experimental group was 40.33 ± 4.10 while that of the control group was 41.81 ± 1.963. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (t=2.26; p=0.026). Educational and training programs should be implemented to influence the food vendors’ knowledge, attitude, and practice positively.