Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Food Safety Measures among Urban and Rural households of Belagavi – A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Each day millions of people become ill and thousands die from preventable foodborne diseases. Food stored, prepared, cooked and eaten at home contributes to foodborne disease which, globally, presents a significant public health burden. This study aims to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of food safety measures among food handlers at household level in urban and rural areas of Belagavi. Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1stJanuary 2017 to 31st December 2017 among 400 urban and 400 rural households in Belagavi district of Karnataka state. Women aged above 18 years who were involved in food preparation at urban and rural households in the urban and rural field practice areas of Belagavi were interviewed using pretested and predesigned questionnaire based on WHO’s‘Five keys for Food safety’. Population Proportional sampling was done in three selected villages of sub-centre. Households were selected based on systematic random sampling. Statistical analysis was done bypercentages, Mean and SD, chi square, ANOVA, and Mann Whitney U test using SPSS version 20. Results: Mean age of the participants was 37.97 ± 13.5 years and 33.48 ± 14.9 years in urban and rural areas respectively. The mean knowledge score for urban participants was 7.1 ± 1.47 and rural participants 6.57 ± 1.58, out of the total score of eleven. The mean attitude score for urban participants was 15.45 ± 1.65 and rural participants was 15.12 ± 2, out of total score of eighteen and the mean practice score for urban participants was 30.18 ± 4.21 and rural participants was 25.12 ± 4.55, out of ten questions. Among the urban participants the mean knowledge scores were lower among the age group more than 35 years (p < 0.001) and the participants who belonged to socioeconomic status class III,IV and V (p < 0.05) and these difference were found to be statistically significant. Among the rural participants the mean knowledge scores were higher among literates (p < 0.001)and this difference was found to be statistically significant. Mean Attitude score were higher among younger age groups (p < 0.001) and literates (p < 0.05) among the rural participants and this difference was found to be statistically significant. Mean practice scores were lower among the participants who belonged to class III,IV and V in both urban and rural area and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Knowledge and Practices regarding five keys for food safety were higher in the urban households compared to the rural households.Attitude towards food safety was observed to be same in both urban and rural households.Among WHO Five keys for food safety, Knowledge, Attitude and Practices regarding ‘cook thoroughly’ and ‘keep food at safe temperature’ were observed to be lower among both the urban and the rural households. Younger Age group (> 35 years), higher educational status and higher socioeconomic status were associated with better Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about food safety