Browsing by Author "Sivarajah, P."

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    Consumption pattern of fish among households in Batticaloa District
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Komahan, S.; Sivarajah, P.
    Fisheries sector in Sri Lanka provides livelihood for more than 2.5 million coastal communities as well as providing more than 50% of animal protein requirement of people in the country (NARA, 2012). The fact that fish is relatively cheap compared with meat, beef, mutton, poultry, and pork, which also contains protein of high biological value tends to make it preferred to other sources o f animal protein (Adeniyi et al., 2010). In Batticaloa District presence of a long seacoast and the mile long lagoon provides a good fishing environment. It leads to high availability and production of both inland and marine fish (Dist. Planning Secretariat, 2013). About 85% of people in Batticaloa District consume fish as their major protein food (Devadawson and Jayasinghe, 2014). Therefore, this study was designed to determine the quantity of fish consumed, expenditure on fish and preferences for various fish varieties by households in Batticaloa District. Methodology Data related to frequency of fish purchases, price of different fish varieties, preference of fish varieties and other fish purchasing details were collected from 120 respondents at 3 rural and 3 urban markets in 6 DS Divisions in the Batticaloa District. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondents and a pre tested and well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was analyzed using SPSS Ver.22.0 software. Result and Discussion The data revealed that the majority of the respondents (66%) were consuming both marine and inland fish varieties, while 24% of the respondents consume marine fish only and 10% consume inland fish only. It was also evident from the data that about 34% of the respondents had some specific reasons for the avoidance of certain fish types in their meal. Avoidance of marine fish varieties in fish purchase occurs only due to the high market price compared to inland fish. In case of inland fish avoiders, 82% of them avoid due to the unfavorable odor emanating during the cooking process, 62% of them avoid due to polluted and unsatisfactory sanitary conditions prevalent in fishing areas and rest (13%) avoids inland fish due to unpalatable taste. In purchasing fish about 26% of the consumers considered only the desirable characters of fish, around 68% considered both price of fish and fish characters equally and only 6% considered the price of fish in purchasing decisions. Freshness of fish is the important fish character considered in fish purchasing. Around 97% of consumers were very specific about the freshness of fish they purchase. About 60% consumers were concerned about taste of the fish they purchase and 43% of consumers concerned about the allergic condition of fish to their family members and a quarter of the respondents (28%) pay attention to the appearance of the fish which include firmness of flesh, bone content and thickness of skin.
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    The Public Awareness on Food Habits and Cancer Incidences – A Sociological Study in Eastern Region of Sri Lanka
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Jemziya, M.B. F.; Sivarajah, P.; Mahendran, T.
    This study challenges to comprehend the level of public knowledge on food habits and health issues and eventually means of mitigating the problematic wellbeing concerns. The study employed with the adult urban public, 385 semi-structured questionnaires on a simple random sampling method, along with such comparisons of percentages, regression, and correlation analytical techniques. Consumption of red meat and processed meat products are considered as a non-inherent aspect of creating cancer cells. The majority of the respondents (61.80%) were not aware of colorectal cancer that has a positive correlation with unhealthy food patterns. The consequences of knowledge on cancer causative agents; food habits were not considered as causative factors by 27.80% of respondents. The knowledge on red meat and processed meat products as causative factors were significant correlations among religion, educational level, monthly income, and DS division at a 95% confidence level. The degree of perception to mitigate the cancer incidences by diminished consumption of red meat and processed meat products were determined. The majority of the respondents (42.10%) had a lack of awareness of the relationship between the consumption of red meat, processed meat products, and cancer incidences. Conducting the awareness programs and mitigating measures will be supportive to make aware the younger generations to minimize the cancer incidences in the future. Keywords: Cancer incidences, Colon rectal cancer, Food habits, Processed meat, Public awareness