Physiological Costs of Cooking Activity in Rural Households of Punjab State

摘要

Household activities performed by the rural homemakers are numerous but the maximum time is spent on cooking. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to study the physiological costs of cooking activity in rural households of Punjab State. The study was conducted in Moga district of Punjab State. One block was selected randomly from Moga district and from the selected block one village was selected randomly. A total of 15 families that is 5 each from three different farm size categories small, medium and large were selected randomly to study the physiological costs of cooking activity. The observations in triplicates were recorded starting from morning till night fall with respect to physiological parameters, namely : energy expenditure, heart rate, blood pressure, grip strength and distance traveled by the homemakers while performing the cooking activity. The instruments used for recording the various physiological parameters were : Caltrac personal activity computer, Polar vantage NV heart rate monitor, sphygmomanometer, grip dynamometer and pedometer. The results of the study show that cooking was performed in open kitchen in sitting posture Energy expenditure for cooking was found to be more in medium (427.9 Kcal. day~(-1)) as compared to small (346.4 Kcal. day~(-1)) and large farm size category (364.6 Kcal. day~(-1)). Energy expenditure for cooking ranged from 1.3 Kcal min~(-1) to 1.5 Kcal. min~(-1) and heart rate from 101.8-120.2 b.min~(-1)as compared to 81.6-86.6 b.min~(-1) at rest. Reduction in grip strength was in the range of 5.1 percent to a maximum of 30.9 percent for cooking. It was further found out that minimum decrease in grip strength occurred for preparing tea whereas maximum decrease occurred for preparing mid morning meals. The average distance traveled per day for cooking was 677, 1024.6 and 1035.8 meters by small, medium and large farm size category respondent respectively.