Dietary Transitions and Food Preferences in Three Generations of Women in Mumbai

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Page: 360-366

Susan Makhnojia¹, Aditi Goyal², Shobha A. Udipi³, Rama Vaidya⁴ (SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, Maharashtra¹ and Medical Research Centre – Kasturba Health Society, Mumbai, Maharashtra²,³,⁴)

The aim of the study was to examine whether diet patterns have changed across three generations of women from the Sunni Muslim community in Mumbai city. One hundred adolescent women (Gen3), their mothers (Gen2) and grandmothers (Gen1) from the Sunni Muslim community of Mumbai city were enrolled. Information about the meal patterns, the type of oil used, frequency of consumption of non-vegetarian foods, fruits and vegetables, traditional foods prepared at home, choices of processed foods, frequency of ordering food online and frequency of ultra-processed foods were recorded through individual semi-structured interviews. A significantly larger number of Gen3 women consumed processed foods compared to the other two generations (p<0.00). The percentage of processed food consumption was lowest in Gen1 women, i.e., grandmothers. A similar trend was observed for ordering food online. Gen3 women also tended to rely more on technological advancement for performing household chores compared to the two older generation women. The results indicate that the younger generation has a greater liking for high fat sugar and salt-containing foods which could contribute to their increased risk of non-communicable diseases.