Food Hygiene Knowledge and Practice among South Indian Women.

Mahadeva; P., Manasa; Elizabath, Melby; Ruby, Nancy; Joy, Priya; Barboza, Hezil Reema

Background: Food is essential for the existence of all living organisms. The main purpose of food hygiene is to prepare and provide safe hygienic food and consequently contribute to a healthy family. Lack of adequate food hygiene can lead to a number of food-borne diseases and death. Methods: A descriptive study design was adopted in order to assess the level of knowledge and practice among women regarding food hygiene. The tool used for this study was structured knowledge questionnaire and self-reported practice checklist. The content validity of the tool was established in consultation with 7 experts. The reliability of the knowledge questionnaire was tested by split-half method and self-reported practice checklist by Cronbach's Alpha. The reliability of the knowledge questionnaire was 0.8 and the practice checklist was 0.9. Both the tool was found statistically significant. Data collected from the 132 women were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS. Conclusion: The results revealed that majority of the women (80.4%) belong to age group of 20-30 years. There was a positive correlation found between food hygiene knowledge and practice. Majority of the women had good knowledge (77.3%) and had good practice (70.3%) towards food hygiene.

HYGIENE; FOODBORNE diseases; CRONBACH'S alpha; INFERENTIAL statistics

Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 2021, Vol 15, Issue 4, p1686

0973-9122

Academic Journal

10.37506/ijfmt.v15i4.16948