Nutritional beliefs among rural Nigerian mothers

Ebomoyi, E. William

doi:10.1080/03670244.1988.9991053

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Similarly, Towns [19] also established how Beninese and Ghanian women consumed medicinal plants to strengthen women during pregnancy and that delivery would be facilitated through consuming these plants. On the other hand, energy-giving starch-rich items were regarded as good for body among rural Nigerian mothers [47]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food beliefs and practices among the Kalenjin pregnant women in rural Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Riang’a

Broerse

Nangulu

2017

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundUnderstanding food beliefs and practices is critical to the development of dietary recommendations, nutritional programmes, and educational messages. This study aimed to understand the pregnancy food beliefs and practices and the underlying reasons for these among the contemporary rural Kalenjin communities of Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.MethodsThrough semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 154 pregnant and post-natal Kalenjin women about restricted and recommended foods, and why they are restricted or recommended during pregnancy. Respondents were purposively selected (based on diversity) from those attending Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care in 23 rural public health facilities. Key informant interviews (n = 9) with traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) who were also herbalists, community health workers, and nursing officers in charge of MCH were also conducted. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS software. Data from respondents who gave consent to be tape recorded (n = 42) was transcribed and qualitatively analysed using MAXQDA software.ResultsThe restriction of animal organs specifically the tongue, heart, udder and male reproductive organs, meat and eggs, and the recommendation of traditional green vegetables and milk was reported by more than 60% of the respondents. Recommendation of fruits, traditional herbs, ugali (a dish made of maize flour, millet flour, or Sorghum flour, sometimes mixed with cassava flour), porridge and liver, and restriction of avocadoes and oily food were reported by more than 20% of the respondents. The reasons for observing these dietary precautions were mainly fears of: big foetuses, less blood, lack of strength during birth, miscarriages or stillbirths, and maternal deaths as well as child’s colic and poor skin conditions after birth.ConclusionPregnancy food beliefs were widely known and practised mainly to protect the health of the mother and child, and ensuring successful pregnancy outcome. Given the deep-rooted nature of the beliefs, it is advisable that when nutritious foods are restricted, nutritional interventions should rather search for alternative sources of nutrition which are available and considered to be appropriate for pregnancy. On the other hand, nutritional advice that does not address these health concerns and assumptions that underlie successful pregnancy and delivery is unlikely to be effective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food beliefs and practices among the Kalenjin pregnant women in rural Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Riang’a

Broerse

Nangulu

2017

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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“…In many ethnographically documented societies, cultural practices, such as food taboos, limit the access women have to vitamin B 12 -rich foods of animal origin (Aberle, 1932;Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1964;Sundararaj and Pereira, 1975;Katona-Apte, 1977;Ebomoyi, 1988;Spielmann, 1989;Harrison, 1992;Marchant et al, 2002). Under such circumstances, customs that encourage prolonged, exclusive breastfeeding can greatly increase the risk of vitamin B 12 deficiency for babies (Weiss et al, 2004).…”

Section: Nutritional Deficiencies In Traditional Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such nutritional problems would be all the more likely in hunter-gatherer societies in which prolonged breastfeeding is sometimes practiced (Takeuchi, 1992;Katzenberg et al, 1993;Sellen, 2002;Clayton et al, 2006) and it is customary to restrict the consumption of fresh meat and other nutrient-rich animal foods by menstruating, pregnant, lactating, and nulliparous women (Aberle, 1932;Ebomoyi, 1988;O'Dempsey, 1988;Spielmann, 1989).…”

Section: Nutritional Deficiencies In Traditional Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The causes of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia: A reappraisal of the iron‐deficiency‐anemia hypothesis

Walker

Bathurst

Richman

et al. 2009

American J Phys Anthropol

661

507

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Porosities in the outer table of the cranial vault (porotic hyperostosis) and orbital roof (cribra orbitalia) are among the most frequent pathological lesions seen in ancient human skeletal collections. Since the 1950s, chronic iron-deficiency anemia has been widely accepted as the probable cause of both conditions. Based on this proposed etiology, bioarchaeologists use the prevalence of these conditions to infer living conditions conducive to dietary iron deficiency, iron malabsorption, and iron loss from both diarrheal disease and intestinal parasites in earlier human populations. This iron-deficiency-anemia hypothesis is inconsistent with recent hematological research that shows iron deficiency per se cannot sustain the massive red blood cell production that causes the marrow expansion responsible for these lesions. Several lines of evidence suggest that the accelerated loss and compensatory over-production of red blood cells seen in hemolytic and megaloblastic anemias is the most likely proximate cause of porotic hyperostosis. Although cranial vault and orbital roof porosities are sometimes conflated under the term porotic hyperostosis, paleopathological and clinical evidence suggests they often have different etiologies. Reconsidering the etiology of these skeletal conditions has important implications for current interpretations of malnutrition and infectious disease in earlier human populations.

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“…Among the Yoruba in Nigeria, 57% of pregnant women were reported to avoid a green called "bitter leaf " because it tastes bitter [31]. Three reasons are given why pregnant women in certain regions of the Gambia do not eat enough greens: the greens dilute sauces; they dislike the taste; there is not enough time available for gathering greens [32].…”

Section: Exclusion From the Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%