TRIBHUWAN UNIVERSITY

CENTRAL DEPARTMENT OF HOME SCIENCE

PADMA KANYA CAMPUS
BAAGBAZAR, KATHMANDU
A REPORT ON:

Food habits of different ethnic group

In the partial fulfillment of the requirement for field

survey in master’s Degree of health science
SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Dil Maya Thapa Mrs. Padma Mam
Roll No: 101
 ACKNOLEDGEMENT

This report is the end of a journey of first semester of Master’ Degree

of Home Science which has taken place through many doors. This
discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge people who
made this tenure easier with words of encouragement, intellectually
satisfying support and expand different ideas.
With all pleasure I would like to thank Padma Kanya Institute for
providing me an opportunity to conduct a survey report on assessment
of food habits of different ethnic groups conducted in Gorkarneshwor
municipality of Sundarijal. This study has undertaken as a partial
fulfillment required for the master’s degree first semester.
I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Co-ordinator Mrs. Nirmala Mam
for providing me an opportunity to uplift my knowledge and skill in the
field visit.
Genuine gratitude to Mrs. Padma Subedi Mam, our lecturer for guiding
and being a source of inspiration throughout the study.
I express my sincere gratitude to Mrs. Manodhara Mam, Mrs. Sunita
Mam, and all lecturers for constant support and encouragement
throughout the study.
A special word of thanks to the participated respondents of
Gokarneshwor Municipality without whom this report wouldn’t be
complete.
 TABLE OF CONTENT
S.N. CONTENT PAGE NUMBER
1 BACKGROUND
 Introduction 1-2
 Rationale 3
 Objective 4
 Limitation 4
2 METHODOLOGY
 Research design 5
 Sample size 5
 Sampling techniques 5
 Setting of the study 5
3 MAJOR FINDINGS 6
4 CONCLUSION 7
5 RECOMMENDATION 8
6 ANNEX: REFERENCE AND 9
QUESTIONNARES
 BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION:
Food refers to anything that is eaten to provide energy and keep
the body healthy. It forms an important part of many customs
and traditions. While some foods are not regarded as food at all
by some groups, the same foods are delicacies for others.
The term eating habits (or food habits) refers to why and how
people eat, which foods they eat, and with whom they eat, as
well as the ways people obtain, store, use, and discard food.
Individual, social, cultural, religious, economic, environmental,
and political factors all influence people's eating habits.
In simpler words, food habits is the way a person or a group of
people eat, considered in terms of what type of foods are eaten,
in what quantities and when.
Different people from different region have different and unique
eating habit which is influenced by cultural and religious values.
The study undertaken was about assessing the food habit or food
patterns of different ethnic groups in sundarijal area.
Sundarijal is a village development committee in Kathmandu
district in the Bagmati zone of central Nepal. Sundarijal lies in the
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gokarneshwor municipality. This new municipality was formed
by merging 5 existing village sundarijal, nayapati, batuwa, jorpati

and gokarna on 2nd Dec 2014. The VDC was named after Hindu
goddess, Sundarimai.
Sundarijal is located 15km northeast of Nepal’s capital
Kathmandu. The VDC touches nuwakot and sindhupalchowk
district from north. Sundarijal covers an area of 5.18 square
kilometer.
According to 2011 nepal census, Sundarijal had a population of
2552 living in 547 individual household. Among the local folks,
60% are Buddhists whereas minor 40% are Hindu.

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 RATIONALE

The purpose and need of the study is to focus on importance of

food habits and how important is eating habits in their own
ethnic groups.
To stay healthy and strong, adequate food is a must. Healthy
food habits include eating or consuming quality amount of food
every day for proper growth and development. To maintain our
body’s vitality, food is a major component. Forming a proper
food habit helps to sustain a good life.
There are various ethnic groups in Nepal, they are newar,
tamang, chettri, tharu, madesi, and so on. Each of the ethnic
groups has their own cultural and religious values and beliefs.
These values behold different food habits in daily life and in
special occasions.
The people from different cultural background eat different
foods. Ingredients, method of preparation, preservation
technique, types of food eaten at different meals vary among
ethnicity. Similarly, people who migrate have changes in their
food preferences.
We recognize that our socio-economic and cultural backgrounds
influence the types and amounts of food we select and consume.
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The amount of food eaten and not eaten varies from group to
group. Some people from mid and south may leave a little bit of
food in their plates in order to indicate that their hunger has
been satisfied. Other people might be offended if left indicating
guest dislikes the food.

OBJECTIVES:
The main objective of the study is to access the food habits of
different ethnic groups in a selected committee of Sundarijal.

LIMITATION:
 The study is limited only to interested respondents or
participants of Sundarijal
 One day for data collection.

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METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the
research problem. This chapter deals with the description of
methodology used in the study which includes research
approach, research design, setting, sample technique and
sample size.

RESEARCH APPROACH AND RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design adopted in the study was survey
approach with descriptive and exploratory research design for
assessing the food habits of different ethnic groups. In this study,
quantitative method was used.

SAMPLE SIZE
The sample size for the study is 5.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
In this study, convenient sampling technique was used.

SETTING OF THE STUDY:

Gokarneshwor municipality ward no:1 Sundarijal.
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 MAJOR FINDINGS

The survey was assessing food habits of different ethnic groups

of Sundarijal community. According to the survey, different
ethnic groups have food habits with some common food
patterns.
In Newar Community, Dashain and Tihar is regarded as their one
of the biggest festival where they prepare and consume variety
of spaces of food along with meat.
In Brahmin Community, they prepare to eat goat meat, chicken
along with vegetables dishes, SALE ROTI in their occasion.
In Lama Community, Lhosar is regarded as the main festival
where they prepare and consume their special dishes like
CHIMMAR that is made up of multiple grains and beans.
In Tharu Community, the people prepare to consume KHARIYA
during MAGHESAKRANTI DHIKRI in DASHAIN.
In Magar Community, MAGHESAKRANTI is the biggest festival for
them and they prepare various food like BARA, KHICHADI and
SALE ROTI as well.

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 CONCLUSION:

People from different cultural background eat different foods.

Ingredients, method of preparation, type of food eaten at
different, and meals vary among cultures. The survey was done
in Sundarijal to assess the food habits of different ethnic groups.
After this survey, I came to know about different food choices
and preference of people with different ethnicity. The food
choices do vary among individual but people connect through
similar food patterns. Food etiquettes and food patterns vary
among culture. Different foods are forbidden by their religion
and different foods are recommended in the religion. Almost all
the people of different ethnic groups have different food habits
but they do have similarities in consuming certain foods. They
have own big occasions where variety of food is prepared. For
exampla Lama’s prepare Chimmar in Lhosar and Tharu’s prepare
Khariya in Maghesakranti.

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 RECOMMENDATION

Eating a balance diet is a must to achieve maximum health for

all. Eating habits differs from person to person thus following
recommendation are necessary:
 Foods should be consumed according to the food pyramid
2002 joint WHO/FAO expert consultation recommendation
for preventing malnutrition, under nutrition and over
nutrion.
 The main staple food for most of the Nepalese is rice. But
its consumption should be decreased as a main staple food
to reduce obesity because of large amount of carbohydrate
present in it. Instead of rice, phapar, maize should be
consumed.
 Increase intake of green leafy vegetables and fruits to get
optimum nutrition.
 Avoid drinking alcohol in daily basis as it may cause liver
cirrhosis and other fatal problem
 Develop a balanced diet with the help of plate method as
guided by WHO.
 Avoid consuming fried and junked foods reduce cholesterol
level and fat accumulation.
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 REFERENCES :
1. https://www.livestrong.com/article/476301-how-
culture-affects-diet/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gokarneshwor
3. https://wikieducator.org/Lesson 5:Food Habits
4. https://collindictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/e
ating-habits
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sundarijal
6. https://www.glabalhealingcenter.com/natural-
health/how-culture-and-society-influence-healthy-
eating/