The effect of social habits on food consumption in the countryside of Assiut governorate, Egypt

The research aimed to determine the level of practice of the respondents from the heads of rural families of the habits related to food behavior and related to social events, as well as to determine the impact of habits on the rate of their consumption of food in the research area, as well as to identify the respondents’ proposals to rationalize their consumption of food in the research area from their point of view, and to achieve the objectives of the research. The data were collected from a random sample of 380 respondents using a questionnaire form using the personal interview method during the period from January 2022 to March 2022, the weighted average and T-test were used in statistical data analysis, and Cohn's equation was applied to measure the effect size  in addition to the tabular display in frequencies and percentages. The results showed that most of the social habits that the respondents adhere to and practice to a greater extent are the social habits associated with wedding occasions compared to their counterparts in the habits associated with other social occasions. It was also found that the respondents’ adherence to some social habits decreased, such as the celebration of Sham El-Nessim, the annual of the deceased and male circumcision ceremonies. The results also showed that the habit of the newborn week affected by an average increase in poultry consumption, oil, and sugar, and a low increase in the consumption of meat, flour, bread, vegetables, ghee, and fruits. While male circumcision ceremonies usually affected by an average increase in the consumption of meat, bread, vegetables, and sugar, and a low increase in the consumption of poultry, flour, ghee, oil, and fruits, and that usually wedding banquets affected a high increase in the consumption of meat, poultry, flour, bread, and vegetables ghee, oil, sugar, and fruits, with an average increase in the consumption of eggs, and a low increase in the consumption of milk, And that the habit of funeral feasts affected a high increase in the consumption of meat, poultry, bread, vegetables, sugar, and fruits, with an average increase in the consumption of flour, ghee, and oil, and a low increase in the consumption of fruits, and that the habit of celebrating Sham El-Nessim affected by an average increase in the consumption of fish, and eggs.