Perumpuli PABN1*, Silva KNN2, Darshani MMG1, Dilrukshi DMN1, Singharathne SMSJM1 and Lakmali MGT2
1Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya, 81100.
2Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya, 81100.
Abstract
The per capita fruit consumption of Sri Lankans is reported as 100 g per day which lies below the recommendations. Moreover, mothers play a key role in the nutritional status of a family. Thus, the current study was focused on assessing the nutritional knowledge of Sri Lankan mothers in the context of family fruit consumption patterns. The primary data collection tool of this study was the questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted with a representative sample of Sri Lankan mothers (n=140) using self-structured questionnaires. Quantitative and qualitative statistical tools were employed to analyze the collected data of the study. As per the results, majority of the mothers in the sample size were known to have a moderate level of knowledge on fruit consumption (50.7%). Lack of a proper channel to access information was perceived as the major limitation for the poor awareness of the nutritional aspects. Further, the study investigated that the knowledge level of the mothers was significantly associated with the frequency of consuming fruits (p=15.87). The income level is positively correlated with the nutritional knowledge level (0.378) while the occupation has a negative relationship (3.037). The study concludes that the nutritional knowledge of Sri Lankan mothers is higher, and the fruit consumption frequency of their families depends on mothers' nutritional knowledge.
Keywords: Family nutrition, Fruit consumption, Nutritional knowledge, Sri Lankan mothers
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