Abstract

Working in kitchens places significant stress on women especially if conducted in awkward postures and poor work environment. This study assessed Kitchen workstation and Stress in meal preparation by women in Households in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multistage Sampling technique was utilized to select 42 women; Google form was used to collect data for the study. Data were analysed using frequency, percentage, PPMC and ANOVA. The results revealed that 42.9%, 47.6%, 57.1% of the women used modern kitchen workstation partially equipped with furniture and appliance with meal prepared two times daily and spent 3-5hours in preparing meal for members of the household. PPMC (r = 0.443, P<0.05), (r= 0.486, P<0.05) revealed significant relationship between the posture used to carrying out activities in the kitchen and the perceived stress/fatigue experienced by women at the kitchen workstation and between frequency of meal preparation by women in the household and perceived stress/fatigue experienced by women at the kitchen workstation. ANOVA revealed (F =.803, P<0.05) tiredness, pain and stress are significant factors influencing perceived stress/fatigue of women at the kitchen workstation. It was concluded that women in the household experienced tiredness and pain due to posture in carrying out kitchen activities, frequency of meal preparation and the type of kitchen workstation used by the women. it was recommended that community outreach programme for improving kitchen ergonomics, and support to women in balancing their responsibilities to reduce the stress with frequent meal preparation, thereby improving the overall well-being.