A Survey Study on Street Food Eating Behaviors of Adults of Varanasi during the COVID-19

Abstract

Street food is defined as food cooked and sold by sellers for immediate consumption on streets and other public locations. In a COVID situation, when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, droplets are generated that can be inhaled by others. This study is an approach to investigate street food consumption patterns of adults in Varanasi during COVID-19. The cross-sectional study was carried out on five street food locations of Varanasi. A self-structured questionnaire was used for data collection at five places. The mean age of the respondents was 26.714 years. Nearly one-fourth of the population had a higher BMI, showing overweight and obesity. 30 percent of respondents were eating street food 3 to 4 times a week. 64.8% of participants preferred to eat street food in the evening. More than 50% of the participants preferred street food because they wanted to discover new flavors during COVID-19. 44% of respondents did not care about hygiene when purchasing street food, while the pandemic was all over the world. This study gives a brief idea about the street food consumption pattern of adults in Varanasi during the critical pandemic, where nearly half of the people fail to maintain proper hygiene at eating establishments.

Keywords:  Street food, COVID-19, Adults, Varanasi, Immunity.