Dilum R Weliwita
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Statement of the Problem: The number of women pursuing careers outside of home has increased tremendously during the recent years. Family structure is changing into nuclear, which lacks the support system which was found in the traditional extended family system. In an attempt to balance the demands of work and home, skipping breakfast and consumption of a rushed unhealthy breakfast are common practices among working women in Sri Lanka. Breakfast is often referred to as �the most important meal of the day�. Regular consumption of healthy breakfast is paramount in ensuring health and wellbeing of women of reproductive age. The purpose of this study is to obtain an understanding of the degree of awareness regarding the importance of breakfast the mong working women in Sri Lanka. Methodology: A Descriptive Cross Sectional Study was performed, with a sample selected from GCE Advanced Level batches of 1998, -2001 from the leading girls� schools in Colombo. This includes 35 women from each batch were randomly selected to get total sample of 105. Findings: The Minitab statistical analysis software was used for analysis of data. The proportion of subjects who had good knowledge on the importance of regular breakfast and consequences of skipping breakfast was amounted to 53%, while 27% had fair knowledge, and 20% of the subjects had poor knowledge respectively. Conclusion: One in five (20%) urban working Sri Lankan women ,with an education level of GCE (A/L) or above is lacking in adequate knowledge on health benefits of regular consumption of breakfast and also consequences of skipping breakfast. The most common reasons for skipping breakfast are subjective, and not based on lack of time for preparation or unavailability of food items.
Dilum R Weliwita R G N is serving as a Lecturer in Nursing and Allied Health. She is also practicing as a Nutrition Consultant and is a Director of health solutions and consultancy services. She is graduated from Middlesex University London in February 2003 and began practice as a registered nurse under the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the UK. She obtained her Masters of Science degree in Food and Human Nutrition at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka in July 2015. She has obtained her Executive Master of Science in Health Administration at Asia e University Malaysia in 2016. Currently, she is reading for her PhD. She has gained experience in various areas of patient care, respiratory, infectious diseases, palliative care, and diabetes care and is also heavily involved with clinical development and student supervision, as a Preceptor for the junior nurses and student nurses. She has interests in health systems strengthening; therefore she is undertaking the post graduate diploma course in healthcare quality and patient safety at university of Colombo, Srilanka while reading for her PhD.
Email:dilumweliwita@gmail.com
