Abstract
A well-nourished and healthy population is a central tenet of sustainable development. In South Africa, cultural beliefs and food taboos followed by some pregnant women influence their food consumption, which impacts the health of mothers and children during pregnancy and immediately afterwards. We documented food taboos and beliefs amongst pregnant isiXhosa women from five communities in the Kat River Valley, South Africa. A mixed-methods approach was used, which was comprised of questionnaire interviews with 224 women and nine focus group discussions with 94 participants. Overall, 37% of the women reported one or more food practices shaped by local cultural taboos or beliefs. The most commonly avoided foods were meat products, fish, potatoes, fruits, beans, eggs, butternut and pumpkin, which are rich in essential micronutrients, protein and carbohydrates. Most foods were avoided for reasons associated with pregnancy outcome, labour and to avoid an undesirable body form for the baby. Some pregnant women consumed herbal decoctions for strengthening pregnancy, facilitating labour and overall health of both themselves and the foetus. Most learnt of the taboos and practices from their own mother or grandmother, but there was also knowledge transmission in social groups. Some pregnant women in the study may be considered nutritionally vulnerable due to the likelihood of decreased intake of nutrient-rich foods resulting from cultural beliefs and food taboos against some nutritious foods. Encouraging such women to adopt a healthy diet with more protein-rich foods, vegetables and fruits would significantly improve maternal nutrition and children’s nutrition. Adhering to culturally appropriate nutrition education may be an important care practice for many pregnant women in the Kat River Valley.
Highlights
Nutritional status is considered a key indicator of national development because a well-nourished and healthy population is considered a moral obligation, it concords with human rights and it is a precondition for sustainable social, economic and human development
The majority of the households were female-headed (56%) and 58% of the women were relying on a child support grant only (R410 per month) as their form of cash income, whist 21% did not have any form of cash income to support their families
Pregnant women in developing countries are considered to be nutritionally vulnerable, as they are often subjected to different degrees of nutritional stress, and those who follow traditional food taboos have increased chances of developing a range of negative pregnancy outcomes, including compromised health of the baby in future
Summary
Nutritional status is considered a key indicator of national development because a well-nourished and healthy population is considered a moral obligation, it concords with human rights and it is a precondition for sustainable social, economic and human development. In sub-Saharan Africa, food insecurity and malnutrition remain a major challenge [1], with women of reproductive age ( pregnant women) and children under the age of five being at high risk [2,3,4,5]. Is the lack of, or inadequate intake of micronutrients, resulting in different types of malnutrition, such as anaemia and deficiencies of iron, vitamin A and zinc [1,6,7], among others. This can occur even in the presence of adequate energy and protein intake.
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