Milk Consumption Behavior and Deficiency of Rural Population in Southwest Coastal Region of Bangladesh

The experiment was conducted to observe milk consumption behavior and deficiency in rural areas of southwest coastal region of Bangladesh through field survey using interview schedule. The results revealed that more than half of the respondents (51.1%) said that they are unable to safe milk for their family consumption. For their families, 34.4% of the respondents kept less than 1 kg of milk, which is less than their requirement. Majority of the respondents (92.2%) were not aware of the significance of drinking milk and only 7.8% of the respondents were aware of this information. Most of the respondents (98.9%) were not aware of the optimal milk requirement while only a small percentage (1.1%) of the respondents were aware of the recommended daily intake, which is quite worrying for the health of the next generation. Only 20% of the respondents indicated that their family members often drink milk. For various reasons, the respondents did not drink milk daily. For example, majority (65.6%) of the respondents could not afford to drink milk. Some respondents exhibited lactose intolerance and 6.7% of them had milk allergy. Additionally, 5.6% of respondents said they avoided milk because they did not enjoy it. Only 14.4% of all respondents reported using other excuses for avoiding milk, and only a small percentage of respondents (4.4%) had no problem avoiding milk. About one-third of the respondents (33%) suffered from nerve problems due to low calcium intake. Weak bones and constant fatigue were the two top complaints we heard from 21.2% of respondents. Very few respondents (16.7%) reported having muscle pain and cramps. Some of them have other diseases, and few of them claim that they had no health problems. Only a small percentage (4.4%) of farmers sold milk while receiving antibiotics, compared to 95.6% of all farmers who did not. The biggest problems farmers faced were lack of training opportunities, high feed costs, shortage of pasture, restrictions on vaccines and vitamin supplements, and knowledge gaps. Due to this they could not produce enough milk in their farms. It can be concluded that the people of south-west coastal region consume significantly less milk than their requirement and they need to be motivated to consume enough milk to meet their nutritional needs.

• Supervision