“FUNCTIONAL FOOD AWARENESS IN RELATION TO LIFESTYLE CHANGES IN OBESE WOMEN OF BHOPAL.’’

Abstract

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” as said by Hippocrates nearly 2,500 years ago, is receiving renewed interest in the health enhancing role of specific foods or physiologically-active food components, so-called functional foods (Hasler,1998).The urbanization has a strong adverse effect on the dietary pattern in old age women who are lacking awareness about functional food.The awareness on functional foods is very use full in old age women who have clinical diseases.Thus,the current study is targeted on educating old age women which will have an effect on food habit for better health.The teaching aid used in the awareness is a colorful leaflet.The awareness on functional foods among women educated were evaluated through questionnaire before and after the leaflet distribution and the results were statistically analyzed. Context:To promote better health and to help reduce the risk of diseases through the emerging fields of functional foods and nutraceuticals as a concept of nutrition,this originated in Japan.To emphasis on the Hippocrates saying,"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food". The purpose of this study was to aware people regarding consumption of functional food to improve their lifestyle.To identify the need for information related to functional foods among older women (40-60 years old) and to assess awareness and perceptions of health claims on self-made functional food. Study Design:The Pre-test and post-test study was planned to evaluate the awareness of functional foods among old age women who were suffering with clinical diseases in Bhopal city of Madhya Pradesh. Results:The mean scores obtained by the selected women on the awareness on functional foods before and after leaflet demonstration was found significant in Pair t -test. Conclusions: The attempt to distribute a leaflet was observed to be a beneficial tool in inculcating awareness since majority of the participants changed their dietary pattern as they have changed their routine breakfast.