Original Article

FOOD PREFERENCES AND TABOOS DURING ANTE-NATAL PERIOD AMONG

THE TRIBAL WOMEN OF NORTH COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH

Lakshmi G
Assistant Academic Monitoring Officer, Rajiv Vidya Mission (SSA), Visakhapatnam-03

ABSTRACT
This is an attempt to examine the food preferences and restrictions practiced by the
tribal women of Srikakulam district of north coastal Andhra Pradesh. They have the
deep rooted beliefs about the food preferences and restrictions. The study reveals
the respondents' opinion about the preferential and non-preferential food items and
also tried to explain the loss of valuable nutrients during antenatal period on the
name of food taboos. Due to these traditional beliefs they are suffering from protein-
energy malnutrition and other deficiencies which lead to health complications both
to the mother and infants. The present results were discussed in the light of other
published data carried out on different tribal and non-tribal populations from India.

Key words: Food preferences, taboos, antenatal, postnatal

Peethala Veedhi, Bazar Street,

China Waltair, Visakhapatnam-17.
INTRODUCTION E-mail: lakshmigeddavalasa@gmail.com
utritional practices play a significant role in
N maintaining the health status of an individual.
Practices permitting an adequate diet in quality and
quantity contribute to the health of the individual.
Nutritional practices and patterns are
developed by
people's tendency to settle into fixed habits. The
basic reasons for this condition are attributed
to malnutrition, which in turn linked with
poverty, food insecurity, unhygienic practices
and traditional beliefs. Particularly among the
tribes, these factors play a major role in the
consumption of certain food items and also
the taboo of certain other valuable nutrients
during ante natal and post natal periods due
to cultural reasons. This type of practice used
to leads various complications to the mother
as well as to the newborns. Adequate nutrition
before and during pregnancy has greater
potential for a long term health impact than it
does at any other time. Maternal health is
complex, influenced by various

Correspondence
Dr. Lakshmi Geddavalasa
W/o G. Ravi Kumar, Door No: 6-6-8/1,
 foetus [7]. Lactating mother's nutritional
requirement should meet her own daily needs,
genetic, social and economic factors,
provide enough nutrients for the growing
infections and environmental conditions, many
infant and furnish the energy for the
of which may affect the foetal growth Infants,
mechanics of milk production. Beliefs are
who are well nourished in the womb, have an
crucial in the acceptance or rejection of
enhanced chance of entering life in good
certain food items.
physical and mental health. The effect of
The beliefs of any community are the
under-nutrition during reproduction will vary
products of social interactions deeply
depending upon the nutrients consumed, the
entrenched in the minds of that community
length of time it is lacking and the stage of
because of deep faith. Many of the food fads
gestation at which it occurs. Due to
and fallacies stem from ignorance about
undernourishment of the mother the baby is
nutritive values of foods and quantitative
at an increased risk of being premature with
and qualitative requirements. Cultural
low birth weight and developmental
beliefs and practices are results of such
irregularities. Severe anaemia in pregnant
ignorance. Prevailing beliefs may prevent
women increases maternal morbidity and
people from consuming
mortality and involves a higher risk of the
32 Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013

www.jcnh.in
valuable foods even when they locally
available at low cost. Among the tribal
populations of north coastal Andhra
Pradesh, certain food items are preferred for
consumption and some are avoided during
pregnancy as well as after the delivery as
per their customs and beliefs [2].
papaya, sesame, coconut water and
fermented rice because they felt that these
food items may induce abortion and create
some health problems, like communicable
diseases, green motions etc to the
newborns. In the post natal period, they also
33

OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the study is to
examine the existing food practices during
antenatal period towards mother and child
health among Savara and Jatapu tribal
communities.

Specific Objectives:
To study the beliefs, practices and
superstitions towards food existing during
antenatal period.
To evaluate the loss of nutrients due to
food
taboos among the pregnant women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conductedamong Savara
and
Jatapu tribal communities of Srikakulam
District. The main intension in selecting
Srikakulam District is that the government has
recognized this district as backward in all
aspects especially in health and nutrition.
They have low rate of literacy, more prevalent
superstitions. For the present study 600
eligible women in their active reproductive
age group i.e. between 15th and 45th year were
selected at random from 7 mandals of the
district. Respondents were lactating mothers
and pregnant women. Data regarding their
food preferences and the taboo of certain food
items during pregnancy period were collected
by employing pre-tested in-depth interviews
and direct observation.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

There are numerous restrictions during ante
and post natal periods. During antenatal
period, the tribal women prefer iron rich and
cold food items which they believe that
these foods are good for growth and
development of the foetus. At the same
time they restricted to consume raw
 of heat producing food for lactating women
can cause further complications for their
Lakshmi children out of total sample. 64.2% of the
respondents are of opinion that consumption
consume some hot foods that are mostly
of papaya, sesame, coconut
useful for milk production & cleaning of the
bad blood after delivery and restricted to Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013
some foods that will lead to some primary
health problems to the newborns. Due to
some magico-religious beliefs they restricted
highly nutritive foods during pre and post
natal periods which lead to anaemia and other
micro nutritional deficiencies to mothers and
newborns. The reasons for their food
preferences and taboos were enquired and its
impact on the loss of valuable nutrients was
also assessed and is presented. Adequacy of
food stuffs in sufficient variety is the essential
requisite for satisfactory human nutrition.
Factors such as life style, food taboos, income,
and infection operate the human nutrition.

Food Patterns during Antenatal period

Early marriage, high work burdens, narrow
birth intervals and discriminatory food
customs combine to force the pregnant
women at risk of becoming or remaining
malnourished. During pregnancy a woman
should eat a wide variety of body building
food and should follow the healthy
practices. The pregnant woman should not
neglect her physical needs as the life of the
foetus is also involved. In this context, the
present women respondents were
interviewed for food practices during
pregnancy and lactation phases.
Of the 600 women surveyed, 60% believed
that certain foods should be specially
consumed during pregnancy. Among the foods
recommended almost all foods such as meat,
fruits and vegetables rich with nutrients and
are necessary for the health of mother and
baby (Table 1). With reference to the
consumption of foods during pregnancy,
82.1% of the total number of women believed
that some of the food items should be
restricted to pregnant women.
All the respondents i.e., 100% of them have
deep rooted false beliefs on certain foods,
which imply a negative effect on their health.
The tribal people believe that the herbs
collected from the forest and the meat of wild
animals were considered as the good food for
the pregnant women. Cent percent of the
respondents are of opinion that consumption
 www.jcnh.in Lakshmi

water, fermented rice and foods and heat with yellowish and green motions),
producing food stuffs during pregnancy cause indigestion, baby becomes skinned with hair
abortion. About 20.0% of respondents opined and risk of having twins. Further 13.5% of
that foods like green plantains, cluster beans, them opined that citrus fruits when given to
mushrooms, fruits of palmyra palms, brinjal, infants cause cold and cough and 2.6% of
Jack fruits, fowls' eggs, them reported that consumption of heavy
Physalis minima L-(green fruit-) during meals during pregnancy causes
pregnancy causes anasalu (a state in which complications during delivery.
the patient suffers

TABLE 1: FOODS CONSUMED DURING PREGNANCY

Sl.no Food Items Reason for consumption
1 Fenugreek seeds, areca nut, wild spider flower plant, Cooling foods for stomach, good for
Sweets , rhizome of date sugar palm/ wild date, cucumber, foetus
lotus tuber, orange, a kind of millet (pelalapindi),
ponnaganni, , rhizome of water lily, amla, rhizomes
available in tanks, cooling foods, Ocimum basilicum.
2 Lablab purpurens L., dove meat , bajra /pearl millet, guana, Energy, strength
chicken, meat, All types of fruits, ragi malt, jowar rice,
dates, rabbit, mutton, Flesh of a local bird (Lakumuki pitta
mamsam)
3 Honey, pumpkin flowers Good for pregnant women
4 Aloe-wood, ragi malt, jowar rice, dates, Indian sorrel, Improves blood
agathi / Sesban, Indian red spinach, Cynodon dactylon,
Barleria cristata, Amaranthus tricolor, Pumpkin leaves,
spinach, common Indian purslane, bengal gram leaves,
radish, wood apple
5 Ginger juice, hot water To control oedema
womb and after the delivery it is good for the
health
There are several traditions prevailing among of the mother as well as child. The tribal
tribes people of
about food intake by pregnant and Southern Rajasthan especially Kathodi and
lactating Garasia
mothers. The pregnant mother is prohibited believe that during pregnancy use of forest
to eat foods
ghee, oil seeds, ground nuts, curd and hot and animal foods are good for health of
foods mother and
(Table 2). Newly delivered mother is given child. Kathodi women eat monkey meat
several during
types of herbal products and gum with ghee to delivery [4].
eat. It
is believed that during pregnancy rich foods
containing ghee and fat is injurious to
health of
 shoots, gogu leaves, fruits(yam/ papaya),
dates,
Durga rao mentioned that some foods are niger seeds oil, asafoetida, black gram,
preferred bengal
in tribal populationsof north coastal gram, pepper, bread, milk, meat (chicken/
andhra goat/
pradesh. They are bottle gourd, ridge gourd, cattle), prawn powder, ragi gruel, sama
small gruel,
gourd, pumpkin, drumstick, lady fingers, tamaraind rasam, pippalla kayam, Fried rice
plantain, with
cauliflower, beans, dry jeera and chilly powder [5].
mango piece, mestha
Most of the foods restricted are inexpensive
(Hibiscus Cannabinus), amaranthus,
and nutritious. The beliefs stated for each food
bamboo
have no scientific explanation. Common and
inexpensive
34 Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013
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TABLE 2: FOODS RESTRICTED DURING PREGNANCY

S.no Food Items Reason for non-consumption

1 Coconut water, papaya, sesame seeds, fermented rice, Abortion
heat producing foods
2 Jack fruit, pemelmoos, wild hog/ porcupine, maize, Baby becomes skinned with hair,
corn coarse hair
3 Black fruits like grapes, wall nut, jambu fruit Child born with dark complexion
4 Eggs, coconut Child will be born with bald head
5 Custard apple, Achras zapota Cold, cough
6 Cashew fruit, pumpkin fruit, traditional food (pongadalu, Communicable diseases
pakundalu)
7 Heavy meals, fermented rice, hot foods, wild meat Complications during pregnancy
8 Pemelmoos Convulsions
9 A kind of bird (Tuttiri pitta) Disposition of the foetus
10 Beans, Peas, horse gram Gas formation
11 Cluster beans, mushrooms, palmyra palm, plantain, Green motions in children (Anasalu)
green, jack fruit, pemelmoos, green fruit, brinjal,
banana ripe, maize/corn, eggs
12 Oily foods, Goat's milk, pickles, heat producing foods Heat producing
13 Green fruit Indigestion
14 Wild meat Magico-religious
15 Tegalu Stretch marks
16 Pickles Oedema in legs
17 Banana, ripe Offer to god
18 Wild hog/ porcupine Physical pain, vigorous
19 Twin bananas Risk of having twins
20 Maize, corn Stomach pain
21 Cassava, Curries made with tubers, yam wild, brinjal Vata, skin allergy, itching
red meat, chicken, eggs, milk, jack fruit,
spinach and
vegetables like pumpkin and leafy vegetables
are restricted while eggs, horse gram and
Bengal gram are not acceptable during
pregnancy. The belief about custard apple is
interesting because it is avoided as it is cold.
Beliefs and restrictions of this type adversely
affect a pregnant woman. Lack of proper
nourishment of the mother may in turn affect
the growth of the baby (Table 2). Therefore, it
is essential that proper measures be taken to
see that these beliefs and practices are not
followed in future. Similarly Meghendra
Banerjee reported the
beliefs of people from 19 states, that
the eating of
 gourd, snake gourd, potato, fresh
tamarind,
many others are all supposed to harm the coconut, cabbage, chick pea, Momordia
baby or the mother in some manner if taken dioca,
during pregnancy [3].
Cucumis sativa, jack, mango, water melon,
Other studies revealed that during pregnancy fish
some (dry/raw/salted), meat(white chicken/wild
foods are avoided by the tribal populations cat), wild
like bitter hog/deer/peacock, eggs, maize,
green gram,
35 Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013
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TABLE-3: MOST COMMON NUTRIENTS NEEDED AND THE TABOOED

FOODS DURING ANTENATAL PERIOD

Nutrient Deficiency Needed for Tabooed Foods during

Antenatal period
Protein Protein- energy malnutrition cell growth and blood Wild hog meat, sesame
production seeds, Eggs (hen)
Fibre Constipation and colon Mechanism of digestion and Papaya, guava, custard
cancers elimination of waste apple, corn, beans,
banana, jack fruit,
sweet potato, topioca
Calcium Mothers bones will be During pregnancy to meet Wild hog, sesame,
depleted and her bones the needs of growing foetus eggs, cashew, coconut
become prone to fractures. and during lactation, to whole, papaya, wild
compensate for Ca secreted yam, amaranth
in breast milk. Strong bones
and teeth, muscle
contraction, nerve function,
contraction of heart, nervous
activity and blood clotting.
Iron Decreased hematocrit, Formation of haemoglobin of Sesame, rice, eggs
anaemia, immune red blood cells and plays an
suppression important role in the
transport of oxygen.(to
prevent anemia)
Vitamin A Night blindness, blurring of healthy skin, good eyesight, Eggs, rice, wild yam,
(carotene) vision, the outer lining of the growing bones dark leafy greens, sweet
eye ball loses its usual moist potatoes, pumpkin,
white appearance and mangoes, papaya
becomes dry and wrinkled.
Vitamin C Appetite loss, fatigue, healthy gums, teeth, and Wild hog, cashew,
(Ascorbic acid) bleeding gums, capillary bones; assistance with iron papaya green,
rupture, immune absorption maize, sweet orange
suppression
Vitamin B6 Angular stomatitis, anaemia, Metabolism of proteins and Wild hog meat,
(pyridoxine) convulsions, dermatitis, fats, red blood cell formation; cahew, eggs, tubers,
glossitis, immune effective use of protein, fat, yam, pumpkin,
suppression, neuropathy and carbohydrates cassava, plantain
Folic acid Megaloblastic anemia, blood and protein Green vegetables,
diarrhoea, fatigue, production, effective enzyme eggs, amaranth,
confusion, forgetfulness, function beans, cashew nuts
depression, dementia,
apathy, insomnia, irritability,
immune suppression
Fat Blood from clotting, lowers body energy stores Wild hog meat, cashew
cholesterol, and help nuts, sesame, eggs.
prevent cancer cell growth

36 Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013

 pregnancy, the woman still needs calcium
for her body, plus extra calcium for her
www.jcnh.in
developing baby. Similarly, she requires
more of all the essential nutrients than
dolichos sps, asmola dal, dolichos dal, she did before become pregnant. Calcium
barely, curd (Buffalo), junnu (sweet made of is another important nutrient. Because the
colostrums of cattle), country liquor, sap of growing baby's calcium demands are
caryota urens and tablets (except IFA). high, she should increase her calcium
Prohibited foods during pregnancy are consumption to prevent a loss of calcium
pumpkin, green gram, papaya, mushrooms, from her own bones. Supplementary
brinjal and tomato [1]. vitamins, which contain some extra
Calcium are necessary.
Nutritional requirements during
Due to deep rooted traditional
antenatal
beliefs, the
period
37
Women in the reproductive age
group and
growingchildren continue to be the
most
vulnerable groups to malnutrition,
despite the
implementation of several nutritional
intervention programmes in the country.
Eating
well during pregnancy is more than
simply
increasing how much a woman eats. She
must
also consider what she eats. Although a
pregnantwoman needs about 300
extra
calories a day- especially later in
her
pregnancy, when her baby
grows quickly-
those calories should come from
nutritious
foods, so they can contribute to baby's
growth
and development.
The extra food pregnant women eat
shouldn't just be empty calories it should
provide the nutrients growing baby needs.
For example, calcium helps make and
keep bones and teeth strong. During
 5. Nagda , B.L : Social correlates of
fertility, Udaipur, Himamsu
Lakshmi Publications.1992.
6. Srilakshmi. B.: Dietetics, New age
present tribal women are avoiding international (p) ltd, publishers,
many food items which are locally Mumbai.1997.
available, affordable and rich with 7. Park. K.: Preventive and Social
Medicine,
nutrients which are essential during
seventeenth edition, Jabalpur,
ante and post natal periods. And hence India.2002.
they are suffering from various Journal of Community Nutrition & Health, Vol.2, Issue 2, 2013

nutritional deficiencies and actually

they need these nutrients during these
periods, for keeping good health of their
own and for the healthy growth and
development of foetus and infants
(Table-3).

CONCLUSION
The study reveals that these curious
respective practices shown in the above
clearly represents their innocence, illiteracy
and their belief in unfounded food fads and
taboos. It was found that numerous foods
either restricted or tabooed are actually
nutritious and good for both the mother and
child. The cultural beliefs and practices of
tribal communities definitely have much
negative effect on the pregnant and
lactating mothers, which can be eradicated
through proper awareness among the
community in general and women in
particular by health interventions and
action oriented research.

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Kumar:
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