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Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Food Purchasing Practices of Low-Income Families in Three Ecological Settings
Thesis Abstract:
This study sought to identify the socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with food purchasing practices of low-income families in three villages of Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines, namely: Maahas, Timugan, and Mayondon, which represented the lowland, upland, and coastal areas, respectively. This study also determined the relationship between food purchasing practices and radio listenership.
Respondents were the 90 homemakers whose children participated in the 1995 second quarter Municipal Nutrition Feeding Program under the Operation Tim bang Project (OTP). Data gathering using a six-page pre-tested questionnaire was done in August 1995. Frequency distribution, ranges, means, and standard deviations were used to describe the socioeconomic and demographic variables. Spearman Correlation Coefficient, Phi-Coefficient, Contingency Coefficient, and Cramer's V test were used to measure the relationship between the variables studied.
Data were analyzed at the five percent level of significance. All analysis were run on the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Program. Results revealed that the respondents had an average age of 33.66 years, and an average monthly income of P3,500. The majority (70%) of the respondents in the three areas belonged to households with 4-6 members. Fifty-six percent and 60 percent of the respondents from the upland and coastal areas, respectively, were able to reach or completed high school, while 53.3 percent from the lowland area were elementary graduates.
In all three ecological settings, the wife was the food purchaser of the family. Of the three food groups, Group Ill or the energy-giving foods (e.g., rice, rootcrops) yielded the highest expenditure, followed by Group 1 or the body-building foods (e.g., fish, eggs, chicken, milk, milk products). Group II or the body-regulating foods were the least purchased items. Availability of farm products reduced the cost of food purchases ofthe families in all the three ecological areas studied.
Findings also revealed that household income and the number of household members were significantly related to the kind and quantity of food purchased. Age, household income, number of household members, and educational attainment were not significantly related to family food purchaser. There was a significant relationship between radio listenership and the family food purchaser. The Phi-Coefficient test at 0.338 revealed that the family food purchaser tuned into the radio everyday and usually listened during the morning.