DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2015.v03i06.054

Pages: 2412-2415

Food is a basic right for all human beings irrespective of their economic or geographic or cultural backgrounds. There is a necessity to find the calorie consumption pattern among the different nature of workers and their families. The objective of this study is to estimate the calorie consumption pattern among of food items, and health status among families of different workers in the rural area of Pondicherry. A community based cross sectional quantitative descriptive study is conducted in rural area of Pondicherry during March to April 2015 among 300 families of sedentary moderate and heavy workers by using pilot tested structure, questionnaire at the door steps of residents. Data are collected on food items used and consumption of different food items for the last 7 days along with other relevant social factors. The study population had 17, 61 and 22 percent families belonging to sedentary, moderate, heavy workers respectively. The per capita per day calorie consumption was 1876 and the differences in calorie consumption among different workers family members were found to be inversely related. Cereals contributed nearly 70 percent of the total calories followed by oils and pulses. There were differences in calories consumption between members of total families to family members suffering from chronic diseases. The calorie consumption of per capita per day was inversely proportional to the nature of the workers family, and size of the family. Periodical assessment is needed to monitor the calories intake in order to maintain the health of all the families.