Assessing the awareness of nutritional benefits of millets amongst women in Bangalore

Abstract

PurposeThe goal of the present study is to examine the degree of knowledge amongst Indian women about millet grain and its nutritional advantages. Millet is regarded to be five times more nutritious than rice and wheat. Despite the fact that millet contributes to 10% of India's food grain basket and has an annual production of 18 million tonnes, it is not consumed in the same proportion as mainstream cereals (that is rice and wheat). As a result, the study's primary objective is to determine the level of awareness and consumption pattern of millet amongst Indian women regarding millet grains.Design/methodology/approachThe research was carried out in the city of Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka, India. For the purpose of study, a sample of 855 female respondents was approached using a non-probability sampling technique known as convenience sampling. The data were gathered through the use of a self-administered structured questionnaire.FindingsAccording to the findings of the study, the vast majority of respondents consume millet for preserving overall health. Building self and family immunity is the most important factor with 4.11 mean scores and low standard deviation of 0.985. The results reveal that 80.6% of women in the study are aware of millet but only 62.7% of women are consuming millet. The motivating factors and demotivating factors leading to consumption and non-consumption behaviour, respectively have also been identified. The study also reveals that demographic factors such as age, qualification and income have a direct influence on millet consumption.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of research can be extended to explore the impact of millet consumption on long term health benefits of millet amongst the target respondents. Further, the study can be extended to explore the consumption pattern of millet among different target audience in various parts of India. The media interventions in creating awareness of millet consumption benefits need to be studied for increasing the consumption of millet.Practical implicationsCompanies involved in producing Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) products can be encouraged to produce millet based foods like cereals, biscuits, ready to eat foods etc. Workshops can be organized to raise awareness on how the millet can replace traditional grains in the cooking process.Social implicationsPolicy measures may include millet being promoted through technology dissemination, creating awareness about advantages of millet and including millet in the Public Distribution System (PDS). It is also important to promote the cultivation, maintenance and processing of the local variety of millet with competent marketing strategies so as to increase their cultivation comparable to the cash crops. Farmers should be educated on the importance of cultivation of minor millet.Originality/valueThe fast-paced lifestyle of urban Indians has a direct impact on their dietary preferences. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that people have a nutritionally balanced diet and engage in regular physical activity to reduce health risks. In India, as a result of women's increased participation in the workforce, women are forced to manage many tasks and obligations, which has detrimental effects on their health. The poor nutritional status of modern-day workers is attributed to a lack of education, lack of awareness and a general disregard for health-related concerns. There is a need to investigate if Indian women are aware of the nutritional benefits of millet grains that are higher in protein.

Moral obligation for recycling among youth: extended models of the theory of planned behaviour

“…PMO found a positive and significant effect on attitude, PBC and recycling behavioural intentions supporting the current contention and adding substantial evidence in the Indian youth context (Aboelmaged, 2021; Chen, 2020; Liu et al , 2020a, 2020b, 2020c; Wu et al , 2022). The results are evident that personal moral obligations are being formed/altered by the influence of social pressure from family and peer groups (subjective norms) (Rizwana et al , 2022; Liu et al , 2020a, 2020b, 2020c; Wu et al , 2022). These relationships have not been tested so far in environmental behaviour, specifically not among the Indian youth.…”

“…Further, empirical studies on pro-environmental behaviour determinants support the utility of adding PMO to the TPB model (Rizwana et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2022;Bamberg and Mo ¨ser, 2007). Taufique and Vaithianathan (2018) found that moral obligation has a better explanation power to predict behavioural intentions than attitude and subjective norms in the recycling behaviour domain.…”

“…Subjective norms affect pro-environmental behavioural intentions through individuals' PMO (Liu et al, 2020a(Liu et al, , 2020b(Liu et al, , 2020cWu et al, 2022;Yuan et al, 2016). For instance, Rizwana et al (2022) indicated that if peer groups and families support buying wild freshwater fish, the personal norm to protect wild fishery resources is likely to be reduced, and purchase intention becomes higher. In addition, several studies supported the direct relationship between subjective norms and PMO (Rizwana et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2020aLiu et al, , 2020bLiu et al, , 2020cYuan et al, 2016):…”

“…The results are evident that personal moral obligations are being formed/altered by the influence of social pressure from family and peer groups (subjective norms) (Rizwana et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2020aLiu et al, , 2020bLiu et al, , 2020cWu et al, 2022). These relationships have not been tested so far in environmental behaviour, specifically not among the Indian youth.…”

“…In the first extended TPB model, “Model A”, PMO is an explanatory variable for recycling behavioural intentions, which was well supported by the existing studies (Figure 1) (Wang et al , 2021; Seniwati et al , 2019). Furthermore, based on an extensive literature review, the study identified a robust extended TPB model, “Model B”, in which PMO was considered as an explanatory variable for attitude, PBC and intentions; and response variable to subjective norms (Figure 2) (Rizwana et al , 2022; Wu et al , 2022; Chen, 2020; Chen, 2016). The study also tested the existing TPB model (Ajzen, 1991) (Figure 3).…”