Effect of Socio-economic Status on the Dietary Behaviours of Rural Women in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

The dietary behavior of rural women in India is a topic of significant importance and intrigue, reflecting a complex interplay of cultural traditions, socioeconomic constraints, and evolving dietary patterns. India, with its vast and diverse rural landscape, is home to a substantial proportion of its population, and women play a pivotal role in shaping the dietary habits of their households. Looking at the importance of the above-mentioned issues, the study was conducted in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh to know the dietary behavior of rural women. Dietary behavior is operationalized as the variety and quantity of food (that includes cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits and other foods) consumed in 30 days. 24hrs recall method developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was used for daily food consumption analysis. The multiple regression analysis technique was attempted to show the effect of socio-economic variables on the consumption of different food items. The results indicate that per-capita consumption of all the food items except the other vegetables was less than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). Cereals were the major contributor to the food security of the people and the respondents’ average consumption of cereals was 284 g/day, whereas the RDA is 400g/day. The autonomous consumption in the case of vegetables is 70.84 grams per day, consumption in the case of pulses is 26.653 grams per day and consumption of fruits by women in the study area was found to be 19.3 grams per day.