Impact of economic crisis and socio-demographic factors on milk and milk product consumption of undergraduates: a case study of Eastern university, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Milk consumption is influenced by a wide range of factors, including gender, age, income, education, ethnicity, health condition, and presence of children in the household. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of the recent economic crisis and socio-demographic factors on the milk and milk product consumption patterns of undergraduates. The questionnaire survey was used as the primary data collection tool. The survey was conducted with a representative sample of undergraduates (n=238) using a self-structured online questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. As per the results, the majority of undergraduates in the sample size consume raw milk (83%). Therefore, cattle milk was the most widely consumed type of raw milk (84%). Ice cream is the most popular milk product (99%) in sample size. Despite the economic crisis, the majority of undergraduates (53%) maintain steady milk consumption habits. However, the milk consumption of undergraduates during the financial crisis was significantly associated with factors including locality (p=0.017), family size (p=0.014), monthly family income (p=0.000), parental educational level (p=0.000), and employment status (p=0.014). Further, this study investigated the fact that the purchasing frequency of milk and milk products was not associated with socio-demographic backgrounds (P>0.05).