INDIAN MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

Acknowledgement
I am grateful to my sociology teacher Mrs. Sheela Ashok
Kumar for her kind words of encouragement, constant
support, unlimited love and help rendered to me during
this research. She has been extremely helpful in guiding
me in the right path during the completion of this study.
Iam thankful and gratefully acknowledge the support and
cooperation of the teachers of vaels International School,
my parents and neighbours for patiently taking time and
answering my questions relayed to this project. I also
thank my Principal for the support given.
Thank you all.
 Table of Contents

S.No Contents Page no.

1. Chapter 1- 4
Review of the literature:
Introduction,
Brief history,
Reasons for the consumption,
Fast food in India markets.
2. Chapter 2- 11
Research methodology:
Introduction
Main Objective
Specific Objective
Methodology
Research Design
Field of study
Sample size
Tools of data collection
3. Chapter 3- 13
Findings and analysis
Questionnaire
Samples
Analysis and Interpretation
Suggestion
Challenges
Conclusion
4. Appendices-
Bibliography
 Chapter 1- Review of the Literature

Introduction

Marriage:

There are many examples of junk food such as Pizza, French Fries, Burgers,
hotdogs, fried food, candy, ice cream, and soda pop. Other kinds of junk food are
just like the imitation juice that you find nowadays in most of the markets, you
may think it is healthy but the truth is that it has loads and loads of sugar, artificial
flavors, and so little of the pure natural juice.

Fast food is an alternative food source for many people around the world who have
little time or money for a homemade meal or for a meal cooked at a restaurant.
However fast food can also cause many problems with our bodies if it is consumed
to often or in very large quantities.

Although fast food is tasty and delicious, it has many disadvantages, people must
nowadays be aware of those disadvantages, fast food has real damage on the
human health, and the most important bad effects that the fast food may cause are
obesity, high cholesterol level, cardiovascular disorders, and nutritional
deficiencies. Actually fast food may not contain any nutritional benefits to the
body because it usually contains harmful fats, carbohydrates, and cholesterol
that don’t provide the body with any useful energy.

History
Fast food has appeared in the world during Ancient Rome age, they sold wine and
bread in the streets of the cities, also in the Far East noodles were prepared and
sold while in the Middle East there were the flafel and the flatbread, Indians
introduced dahi vada, vada pav, and panipuri.

In the cities of Roman antiquity, much of the urban population living in Insulae,
multi-story apartment blocks, depended on food vendors for much of their meal;
the Forum itself served as a marketplace where Romans could purchase baked
goods and cured meats.
In the mornings, bread soaked in wine was eaten as a quick snack and cooked
vegetables and stews later in Popina, a simple type of eating establishment. In
Asia, 12th century Chinese scar fed down fried dough, soups, and stuffed buns, all
of which still exist as contemporary snack food. Their Baghdadi contemporaries
supplemented home-cooked meals with processed legumes, purchased starches,
and even ready-to-eat meats. During the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban
areas such as London and Paris supported numerous vendors that sold dishes such
as pies, pasties, flans, waffles, wafers, pancakes and cooked meats. As in Roman
cities during antiquity, many of these establishments catered to those who did not
have means to cook their own food, particularly single households. Unlike richer
town dwellers, many often could not afford housing with kitchen facilities and thus
relied on fast food. Travelers such as pilgrims en route to a holy site, were among
the customers.
Reasons of the increased consumption of junk food:
People around the world are of different races, languages, borders, and religions;
however, they may have the same problems, views, and tastes. Media devices have
helped in uniting those things; it made the world as if it is just one small village.
Our ancestors used to respect their planet, they took care of their health, and on the
other hand we looked for Fast food.
Nowadays everyone eats fast food, especially the new generation that loves and
eats only the fast food. A lot of parents all around the world may give their kids
sugary fast food in order to be hyperactive, and afterwards, their children complain
and feel sick, therefore they take their children to doctors who will prescribe some
medications that will cure the symptom not the cause, despite of not being in need
to those medications if they just changed their diet.
There are many reasons beyond the increased consumption of fast food around the
world, the most common reasons are:
Convenience

Convenience is a major reason in today’s world, it is playing a bigger role in the

life of working public. They find it more convenient to buy fast food from outside
and eat rather to cook for themselves, due to the lack of time they have.

Eg. He/she wakes up early in the morning with very little or no energy, even if she
slept for the regular eight hours, she will still feels tired, finding no time to make
breakfast then she says to herself that she will just get something on her way to
work, she stops by any supermarket and buys some doughnuts and a soft drink
(e.g. Soda), believes that the sugar in those products will give her power and
energy, working for about eight hours and then she finds herself hungry again, she
are so tired, she doesn’t want to bother herself by making lunch so she orders junk
food again.
In general, nowadays we live a very fast life; you have no time to cook healthy
food so you choose the easier way which is the junk food even if it was lower in its
nutritional value.
Advertisements
Marketers of the junk food use every possible way to advertise, they use TV,
Radio, and internet. Television is known to have a very powerful effect on people;
therefore marketers use advertisements that reach the mind of a lot of consumers,
because advertisements wash away our fears and suspects and give us another
beautiful image and that is just what the marketers want.

Most of the advertisements aim for the children, and it was reported food ads that
appear during children’s T.V. programs are 25%, in India they are approximately
50% while in Pakistan they are 75%.
Since 1980 there was an obvious increase in the children’s advertisements, they
were used not only to affect the children then but to increase the future fast food
consumption also; they targeted children because they know the influence that
children may have on their parents, and to create loyal future consumers.
Fast food marketers would do anything and would pay huge amounts of money in
advertising especially for the children including games, contests and toys; they use
cartoon and comics to advertise. For example, Burger King was the first to give the
children free toys with their meals, in 1999 it was reported that Burger King
featured more than 50,000,000 toys. The Sales of Burger King in the USA were
doubled that year.
In conclusion, children are very important customers in the market because of the
great effect they have on their parents, in the past mothers were more powerful
than the market power, but those days are gone nowadays, it was reported that
most of parents nowadays were influenced by their children mainly in their
marketing decisions especially when it is related to food, therefore marketers need
only to persuade the children, and wait for them to convince their parents.
Lack of discipline
Nowadays, the new generation has a very weak personality, they didn’t suffer the
fears of wars, they have everything easy and available, thus they have no inner
strength, they don’t understand the value of life or health, they may know the
consequences of eating a lot of fast food, and nevertheless they buy it because of
lacking of discipline.
Parents also became very weak; they try to be more friendly with their children, so
they respond to every single demand, they feed them according to their desire not
what is healthier for them and for their bodies.

Effects of Junk food on health

Junk food has many bad effects on health, they include:

Effects on blood pressure:

Fast food contains high amounts of Na++ (Sodium) that lead to high blood
pressure, it was stated that the adult’s body require only 1200-1500 milligram of
sodium every day, so when you realize that the normal table salt contains about
forty per cent sodium and that a teaspoon of salt may contain about 2400 milligram
of sodium, and that high amounts of sodium leads certainly to high blood pressure,
you will realize what risks fast food may lead to.
Cholesterol

Junk food that contains meat contains bad cholesterol that has dangerous effects on
the human body and general health, the accumulation of cholesterol molecules in
arteries will result in their thickening and clogging that will in return result in
congestion of blood vessels and will obstruct the normal blood flow which will
lead to disorders in the blood pressure, and if the artery affected was one of those
that carry blood to the heart, it will may lead to a heart attack, and in complicated
cases it may cause heart failure.
Trans Fats
Trans fats are considered to be the worst type of fats, and it is present in Junk food
with high amounts, trans fat is very harmful because it reduces the levels of good
cholesterol in addition to increasing the levels of bad cholesterol. It was reported
that fast food contains 45 per cent of trans fats more than normal and well prepared
food.
Effects on the cardiovascular system and vascular function:

About 40 per cent of children and 37 per cent of adults depend mainly on junk
food in their lives, they have higher levels of fats, saturated fats, energy, soda
drinks, and sodium, and on the other hand lower intake of milk, vegetables, fruit
and essential vitamins such as C and A. Fast food consumption was proved to have
bad effects on the CVS (Cardio Vascular System) in general because fast food lead
to gaining weight and insulin resistance, and on the long term fast food causes
disorders in the endothelial functions and marked increase in the oxidative stress,
and as a further complication, both oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction
develop atherosclerosis, and this may end in cardiovascular failure and death.
On the other hand well prepared meals such as the Mediterranean or the vegetarian
food contain low unsaturated fats and higher content of vitamins therefore it may
be considered a protective diet, for example when you take high doses of
antioxidant vitamins (C&E) they will prevent endothelial dysfunction.
Obesity

It was stated by the Worldwatch Institute that the number of adults that have
obesity nowadays are the same number of those who suffer from underweight.
Children obesity has become epidemic in many countries, there are more than
17,000,000 children that are 5 years old suffer from obesity all around the world.
Obesity causes many health complications, it causes both psychological and
physical disorders, the prognosis is very poor with possible subsequent
cardiovascular diseases, some kinds of cancer, and premature death.
Other complications
Effects on energy:
Fast food doesn’t contain any or very low nutritional components, on the contrary,
it is composed of harmful fats, cholesterol, and carbohydrates, therefore it doesn’t
provide your body with any energy, and body weakness.
Low concentration:
Fast food contains high levels of fat and oil that are difficult to be digested, so the
body spends more amounts of enzymes and blood. That means that when you eat a
lot of junk food, blood goes mainly you the intestine, therefore you may feel
drowsy and lose concentration.
Liver failure:
Liver may get damaged due to the high amounts of salt, cholesterol, and fat that are
present in most of the junk food.
Diabetes Mellitus:
Fast food may cause damage to pancreas and that may lead to insulin dependent
diabetes mellitus.
Causes Cancer:
Ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks,
sugary cereals, ready meals and reconstituted meat products—often containing
high levels of sugar, fat, and salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre. They are
thought to account for up to 50% of total daily energy intake in several developed
countries.
Foods were grouped according to degree of processing and cases of cancer were
identified from participants' declarations validated by medical records and national
databases over an average of five years. The results show that a 10% increase in
the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with increases of
12% in the risk of overall cancer and 11% in the risk of breast cancer.

Fast Food in India

Indian traditional fast food are quite healthy compared to the western
style. In India it is mostly made up of vegetables such as potatoes,
carrot, cucumber and Channa.
As we know Fast food is one of the world’s fastest growing food types. India’s fast
food industry is growing by 40% a year and is expected to generate a billion
dollars every year. The multinational segment of Indian fast food industry is up to
Rs. 6 billion, a figure expected to zoom to go Rs.70 billion. The value of Indian
dairy products is expected to be Rs.100000 million. In last 6 years, foreign
investment in this sector stood at Rs. 3600 million which is about one-fourth of
total investment made in this sector. Because of the availability of raw material for
fast food, Global chains are flooding into the country.

MARKET SIZE & MAJOR PLAYERS

a) Domino’s pizza is present in around 100 locations.
b) Dominated by McDonalds having as many as 75 outlets
c) Subways have established around 40 outlets
d) Pizza hut is also catching up and it has planned to establish 125 outlets at the
end of 2005.
e) Nirulas is established at Delhi and Noida only. However, it claims to cater
50,000 guests every day.
Major players in fast food are: Mc Donald, KFC, Pizza hut, Dominos pizza,
and Coffee day
The main reason behind the success of the multinational chains is their expertise in
product development, sourcing practices, quality standards, service levels and
standardized operating procedures in their restaurants, a strength that they have
developed over years of experience around the world.
The estimates of trade sources and sector studies indicate a market share of about
30% of potato. The main potato based products are French fries wedges, cutlets,
chips etc. dehydrated potato products like flakes, granules and powder are also
used in larger quantities in preparation of many products as the substitute of fresh
potatoes.

Chapter 2- Research Methodology

Introduction
In this chapter it has been explained in detail about the purpose of the study,
methods and techniques that have been used to conduct the study, the area in which
the study was conducted is explained.
Main Objective
The attitude of Indian public towards the consumption of fast food and their views
on the effects of it.
Specific Objectives
 To explore the origin of the idea of fast food restaurants- History of fast
food.
 To understand the reason to why there is so much attraction and obsession
to consume fast food.
 To understand the hazardous effects of fast food on individuals in their daily
life.
 The role of Indian Fast food markets.
 The public feeling on the quality of food provided at the restaurants.
Methodology
This study was qualitative and quantitative in nature, as the intention of conducting
the study was not specified to a particular objective but to understand the various
objectives of the study.
Field of the Study On conducting this study we understood that the public accept
the fact that fast food is tasty, and fancy at the same time they also agree that the
fast food is equally dangerous when it is consumed in excess.

The study was conducted in Vaels International School and the neighboring area.
Sample size
Includes 15 samples.

Chapter 3- Analysis and Findings

Questionnaire
Analysis and Interpretation
On conducting this study we understood that they accept that fast food is tasty,
and fancy but the first thing they get reminded of when it comes to fast food is that
a threat to their health when it is consumed in excess.

Most people choose fast food because they feel that the food is quick with diverse
menu and colourful food varieties. Few even said that the specific food which
comes to their mind e.g. Pizza, burgers, fried rice and etc.

Very few gave answers like I like the environment , Health Hazards and one
gave the answer that he eats the fast food only for taste sake.

When asked if the income influences the consumption of fast food 8 out 1 said it
does influence and 7 out of 15 said it doesn’t influence. At the same if fast food
has become a basic need for them 11 out of 15 said it is not a basic need for them
and 4 out of 15 said it is a basic need for them. It is to be noted that the public of
age more than 30 mostly say that income does influence the intake of fast food and
it has not been a basic need for them. Whereas the teenagers mostly have told that
it has become a basic need for them and the influence of income is not there in the
intake of fast food.

Again when asked if the trend of the fast food consumption will increase, decrease
or remain the same, most of the teenagers and some adults said that the trend
would increase and very few of the teenagers said that the trend will decrease,
because every household in India particularly is going back to the traditional
means living which includes healthy food habits also.

Trends Consumptio Fast food is Fast food Advertisements and

n depends on unhealthy affects the branding influence
emotions society
Strongly 4/15 4/15 4/15 9/15
agree
Agree 8/15 8/15 7/15 4/15
Disagree 1/15 1/15 2/15 2/15
Strongly 2/15 2/15 2/15 0/15
Disagree

Favourite fast food restaurant

Kfc Domi nos McDonal d’s Pi zza hut

Subway Burger Ki ng Others
 Favourite fast food

Burger Pi zza Fri es Fried chi cken

Sa ndwich Ice cream Others

Drink

Water
Cocoa-cola
Sprite
Others
How many people do you take fast food with

Al one 2 peopl e Group of 3 Group of more than 3

Amount spent on fast food

200 300 400 500 500+

 Take Away or Drive Thru

24.24%

Ta ke away
Drive Thru

75.76%
 14

12

10

4 Agree
Disagree
2

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Suggestions

 It is suggested that keep the portion sizes smaller for example: If the
fast-food restaurant offers several sandwich sizes, pick the smallest.
 Watch what you drink because some of the beverages are unhealthy and
frequent consumption can lead to serious health hazards.
 Nutrition and health education must be included in the curriculum.
Health promotion programme at schools must be encouraged by providing
information to teachers and staff.
 Government must frequently check the food materials supplied to the fast
food restaurants.
 Adolescents must take care of their eating habits. They must devote time to
cooking healthy food, playing outdoor games and must reduce their intake
of fast food and visiting fast food restaurants

Challenges

 Difficult to understand the actual reasons behind the answers given on the
questionnaires.
 Difficult to communicate with the public on the effects of fast food
  The analysis was a long procedure. Difficult to take a note of every
individuals answer and compile to do the analysis.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, although fast food tastes good and it is consumed by most of the
people world wide its consumption has to be reduced otherwise we should be ready
to face the serious health issues. we think that fast foods are tastier than home
made healthy food which is wrong and people should change their mind and
educate themselves with healthy habits.

The solution, based on the results of our taste test, wanted to eat tasty food all
day , but do not want to get health problems, must cook food in home which can be
tastier than one we buy from restaurants.. It's worth it something that is both tasty
and healthy can be enjoyed. Learning to do this can potentially make your life
better.
 Appendices

Bibliography

 Slideshare.net
 Shodhganag.inflibnet.ac.in
 Simpleindianrecipes.com
 En.wikipedia.org
 Fotolia.com
 Healthline.com
 Food.ndtv.com
 Nadec.com
 Wonderlist.com