Food taboos during pregnancy and lactation among tribal population of south India

Abstract

Background: Good nutrition paves the way for a fair chance in life. Food taboos exist in all the communities and do vary from one community to another. Objectives of current study were to study the socio-demographic profile of the tribal pregnant women, to explore food taboos during pregnancy and lactation among the tribal pregnant women and to assess association between sociodemographic characteristics and food taboo among pregnant women. Methods: This cross‑sectional study was conducted from July 2022 to August 2022 in tribal area among tribal pregnant women from selected area. They were interviewed for which pre-tested structured format was used. Sample size calculated was 303.SPSS version 26.0 was used to calculate statistics. Results: 265 (87.4%) study respondents reported that they include certain special food items during pregnancy. 263 (86.7%) respondents reported that they include certain special food items during lactation. 219 (72.3%) pregnant mothers reported that they avoid certain foods during pregnancy while 149 (49.2%) mothers reported that they avoid certain foods during lactation. Educational level, socio-economic status, occupation, type of housing of the study respondents was significantly associated with the avoidance of food items during pregnancy and lactation (food taboo practices). Conclusions: Study respondent’s cultural belief in food practices are major reason for their avoidance of certain food items during pregnancy and lactation. Nutrition education and awareness will bring behavioural change among these tribal mothers.