Millets Consumption Behaviour of Urban Adult Population and Its Linkages: Evidence from Community Based Study

Abstract

Introduction: With the passage of time, the glory of millet based traditional food products have diminished, perhaps due
to fascination for refined grains. In academic world millets are called “orphan crop”. However, recently, with the
realization of nutritional and health benefits of millets, Government of India is emphasizing on the more cultivation and
consumption of millets to tackle malnutrition and food crises. Objectives: [a] To assess the awareness and consumption
behaviour of subjects of millets. [b] To find out factors influencing knowledge and consumption of millets. Methodology:
This community based cross sectional study was done on urban adult subjects of Prayagraj. Multistage sampling
procedure was adopted for selection of subjects. Information about awareness and consumption of millets were obtained
by interviewing subjects using pre designed and pretested proforma. Data analysis: Data analysis was done through
Statistical Package for Social Sciences; χ² test was used for statistical significance. Results: Majority (94.4%) of subjects
had heard about millets. Of these 67.4% and 45.4% were aware of nutritional and health benefits of millets, respectively.
In all 26.0% and 26.8% subjects were aware of International Year of millets and initiative of Government of India to
promote consumption of millet, respectively. The extent of consumption of millets by subjects was 66.2%. Gender, caste,
education, occupation and social class were significantly linked with nutritional and health benefit knowledge of subjects.
Conclusion: Knowledge consumption gap regarding millet was evident in subjects. Gender, caste, education, occupation
and social class significantly influenced nutritional and health related information of millets