Street Food: An Important Source of Energy for the Urban Worker

Abstract

Urbanization and migration have changed the patterns of living and eating. The easy availability of foods in the cities and small towns has helped workers cope with long periods of absence from home. Under these circumstances, existing methods for the assessment of dietary intakes of individuals and larger populations have not been entirely satisfactory. An urban study was therefore planned to investigate the caloric intakes of men from the low socio-economic group. The problems of using the 24-hour-recall method were investigated in 51 randomly selected households. Men from these households were interviewed individually for a recall of street foods eaten by them. It was significant that the energy derived from street foods helped men from the low-income group meet their recommended dietary allowance for energy.