A community-based cross-sectional study about knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety measures among urban households
Shilpa Reddy Ganta, Deepti M Kadeangadi

Indian Journal of Health Sciences and Biomedical Research (KLEU) 2019 12(2):154-159

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety measures among urban households of Belagavi using the World Health Organization (WHO) “Five keys for food safety.” MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017 among 400 women aged above 18 years who were involved in food preparation at urban households in the field practice area of Ashok Nagar, Belagavi, Karnataka, India. Data were collected using pretested and predesigned questionnaire based on the WHO five keys for food safety. Households were selected based on systematic random sampling. Statistical analysis was done by percentages, mean and standard deviation, and ANOVA using IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Cor. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 37.96 ± 14.9 years, and the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding food safety were 7.1 ± 1.47 out of total score of 11, 15.45 ± 1.65 out of total score of 18, and 30.18 ± 4.21 out of total score of 40, respectively. The mean knowledge score was found to be lower in the age group of >35 years (P < 0.05, F = 5.7415) and socioeconomic status Classes III, IV, and V (P < 0.05, F = 1.828), and these differences were found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Knowledge and attitude scores regarding food safety were good, but food safety practice scores were lower. Among the WHO five keys for food safety, knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding “cook thoroughly” and “keep food at safe temperature” were observed to be lower.