Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Som-Tam (Thai papaya salad) Eating of Undergraduate Students at Rajabhat Maha Sarakham

Abstract

This research conduct a descriptive cross-sectional study. The objectives of

this study were to study knowledge, attitudes and practice of Som-Tam (Thai papaya

salad) eating of undergraduate students at Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University, and to

study adverse effect from eating Som-Tam. 389 students were samples gained by

Accidental Sampling technique. The tool used to collect data was A Questionnaire

regarding knowledge, attitudes and practice of Som-Tam (Thai papaya salad) eating of

the students. The statistics used to analyze the data were percentage, mean and

standard deviation.

The results showed that most of students were female (67.10%), aged between

20-22 years (61.70%). The sample like to ate Som-Tam with crab and pickled fish at the

most level 34.19 percentage. The students had knowledge about eating Som-Tam at a

high level ( X = 7.99, S.D. = 1.74). On attitudes about eating Som-Tam, it was found that

the students with the most agreeable attitude were that Som-Tam purchased from the

entrepreneurs was more delicious than cooked by themselves (54.24%). The practice of

eating Som-Tam, it was found that the most of students were washing vegetables every

time before eating with Som-Tam ( X = 2.59, S.D. = 0.59). The sample group found an adverse effect arising from eating Som-Tam accounted for 43.19%. The symptom found was diarrhea (85.71%) followed by abdominal pain (52.97 %) and thirsty (44.64%).