Study of consumption pattern of functional foods among middle aged women of urban area of Varanasi

Abstract

Menopause is a very crucial part of a woman’s life. It is an end of a woman’s reproductive stage due to diminished secretion of female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Women spend one-third of their lifetime under menopause due to increasing life span. It is not a disease but various physiological and psychological changes occur during and after menopause which have detrimental effects on the quality and quantity of life of a woman. To cope up with these changes inclusion of fruits, vegetables and sprouted grains are very crucial. They are good sources of various nutrients and non nutritional factors which prevents the risk of chronic, degenerative diseases and osteoporosis among middle adulthood women. The present study has been carried out on 100 middle aged women between the age group of 50-60 years in urban area of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The respondents were selected randomly for the study. Most of the respondents during study were sedentary workers. Questionnaire cum interview method technique was used during survey for collecting the data. Data regarding consumption of fruits, vegetables and sprouted grains was collected by 24 hr recall method, consecutive for 3 days.