Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Robert Wondimu; Esubalew Tesfahun; Zalalem Kaba

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

| Peer-Reviewed

Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Robert Wondimu, Esubalew Tesfahun, Zalalem Kaba

Published in International Journal of Science, Technology and Society (Volume 9, Issue 2)

Received: 30 January 2021 Accepted: 10 March 2021 Published: 17 March 2021

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Background: Dietary practices often take the form of rules stating which foods should not be eaten, that is food proscriptions or taboos. Food proscriptions are usually temporary and selective, but food taboos may have an absolute nature. Food taboos refer to the restriction of specific food as a result of social or religious customs. In many traditional societies, cultural norms and customs govern behaviors including, during critical life stages like pregnancy. Every day at least 1600 women die from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth globally. Declaring certain food taboos because they are thought to make a person sick, is also the basis for the many food taboos affecting pregnant women. Objective: To assess the prevalence of food taboo and its associated factors among pregnant women in SendafaBeke town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study conducted from March 1, 2019 to May 17, 2019 among pregnant women who selected using systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using both a structured interviewer administered questionnaire and for qualitative, Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted. The data was coded, entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for data cleaning and analysis. Descriptive measures mean, median, frequency and percentage were used. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the magnitude and direction of association between a set of independent variables and the outcome variable at p<0.25. Then those variables with p<0.25 was selected for multivariable analysis. Finally, odds ratio with 95% confidence level was computed and p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results: More than half (55.3%) of total pregnant mothers encountered for at least for one food item. Food items avoided were, milk and milk products (26.9%), eggs (20.23%), linseed (17.86%), fatty meats (15.07%), fruits (9.52%), Honey (6.74%) and vegetables (3.57%). Reasons mentioned for avoidance of this food item; fear of fat baby, fear of abnormality baby, fear of abortion, plastered on fetal head and food flavor. Conclusion: This study revealed that food taboos and eating behavior during pregnancy like aversion, skipping and no use additional meal and occupation of husbands and educational status shows that significant association with food taboo affects more than half of pregnant mothers due to beliefs in old unscientific tales.

Published in	International Journal of Science, Technology and Society (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15
Page(s)	75-86
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Food Taboo, Pregnant Women, SendafaBeke, Oromia

References

[1]	Santos-Torres MI and Vásquez-Garibay E, Food Taboos Among Nursing Mothers Of Mexico; journal of health population and nutrition, 2003, 21 (2): 142-149.
[2]	Alonso EB. The impact of culture, religion and traditional knowledge on food and nutrition security in developing countries March 2015.
[3]	Assefa D, Wassie E, Getahun M, Berhaneselassie M, and Melaku A. Harmful Traditional Practices, Awassa college, Awassa, 2005.
[4]	Corha In Collaboration With IFHP Comprehensive Reproductive Health And Gender A Training Reference Manual May, 2011.
[5]	Perez GM and Garcia AP, Nutritional taboos among the fullas in upper River Region, The Gambia, The journal of Anthropology 2013.
[6]	Zerfu et al. Dietary habits food taboos, and perceptions towards weight gain during pregnancy, journal of health, population and nutrition 2016, 35: 22.
[7]	Demisse T. Muroki N and Kogi-makau W. Food taboos among Pregnant Women in Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia, Ethiopian journal of health development, 1998, 12.
[8]	Mohamad M, and Yee Ling Ch. Food taboos of malay pregnant women attending antenatal check-up at the maternal health in kuala lumpur: Integrated Food, Nutrition and Metabolism, 2016.
[9]	Central statistical Agency (Ethiopia) and ICF international: Ethiopia demographic and health survey Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Calverton Maryland, USA; Central statical Agency and ORC macro; 2014.
[10]	C Rotimi et al. Nutritional Status in rural Nigeria; European journal of clinical nutrition 1999, 53, 734-39.
[11]	McGuire and Pokin. Beating the Zero-sum game, women and Nutrition in the third world past. Food/Nutr. Bull., 1998; 11 (4) 38-63.
[12]	Robert et al., Nutritional status in rural Nigeria: European Journal of clinical nutrition 2008; 53, 734-739.
[13]	Anderson AS. Pregnancy as a time for dietary changes: Proc. Nut. Soc, 2001; 60 (6): 497-504.
[14]	Dr. Bridget I. Feeding patterns of pregnant women in Delta State: Implication for nutrition education, Nigeria, 2010.
[15]	Wen et al. Dietary Behaviors during pregnancy: findings from first-time mothers; International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity in southwest Sydney, 20107: 13.
[16]	Man’ombe S. Pregnant Women As Beneficiaries Of The Vulnerable Group Feeding (Vgf) Programme In Mbire District Zimbabwe: An Assessment Of Nutritional Vulnerability; 2012.
[17]	Zepro NB. Food taboos and misconceptions among pregnant women of Shashamene district, Ethiopia, Science Journal of Public health, 2012; 3, 410-46.
[18]	Getnet W, Aycheh W, and Tessema T. Determinants of food taboos in the pregnant women of the Awabel district: Ethiopia, Advance in public health, 2018.
[19]	Hassan Tahir HM, Elawad Mohammed Ahmed A, and Ahmed Ali Mohammed N. Food Taboos among Pregnant Women in Health Centers, Khartoum State- Sudan, 2016. Austin J Public Health Epidemiol. 2018; 5 (2): 1074.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Robert Wondimu, Esubalew Tesfahun, Zalalem Kaba. (2021). Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 9(2), 75-86. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Robert Wondimu; Esubalew Tesfahun; Zalalem Kaba. Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Soc. 2021, 9(2), 75-86. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Robert Wondimu, Esubalew Tesfahun, Zalalem Kaba. Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Int J Sci Technol Soc. 2021;9(2):75-86. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15,
  author = {Robert Wondimu and Esubalew Tesfahun and Zalalem Kaba},
  title = {Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia},
  journal = {International Journal of Science, Technology and Society},
  volume = {9},
  number = {2},
  pages = {75-86},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  abstract = {Background: Dietary practices often take the form of rules stating which foods should not be eaten, that is food proscriptions or taboos. Food proscriptions are usually temporary and selective, but food taboos may have an absolute nature. Food taboos refer to the restriction of specific food as a result of social or religious customs. In many traditional societies, cultural norms and customs govern behaviors including, during critical life stages like pregnancy. Every day at least 1600 women die from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth globally. Declaring certain food taboos because they are thought to make a person sick, is also the basis for the many food taboos affecting pregnant women. Objective: To assess the prevalence of food taboo and its associated factors among pregnant women in SendafaBeke town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study conducted from March 1, 2019 to May 17, 2019 among pregnant women who selected using systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using both a structured interviewer administered questionnaire and for qualitative, Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted. The data was coded, entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for data cleaning and analysis. Descriptive measures mean, median, frequency and percentage were used. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the magnitude and direction of association between a set of independent variables and the outcome variable at p<0.25. Then those variables with p<0.25 was selected for multivariable analysis. Finally, odds ratio with 95% confidence level was computed and p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results: More than half (55.3%) of total pregnant mothers encountered for at least for one food item. Food items avoided were, milk and milk products (26.9%), eggs (20.23%), linseed (17.86%), fatty meats (15.07%), fruits (9.52%), Honey (6.74%) and vegetables (3.57%). Reasons mentioned for avoidance of this food item; fear of fat baby, fear of abnormality baby, fear of abortion, plastered on fetal head and food flavor. Conclusion: This study revealed that food taboos and eating behavior during pregnancy like aversion, skipping and no use additional meal and occupation of husbands and educational status shows that significant association with food taboo affects more than half of pregnant mothers due to beliefs in old unscientific tales.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY - JOUR
T1 - Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
AU - Robert Wondimu
AU - Esubalew Tesfahun
AU - Zalalem Kaba
Y1 - 2021/03/17
PY - 2021
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15
DO - 10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15
T2 - International Journal of Science, Technology and Society
JF - International Journal of Science, Technology and Society
JO - International Journal of Science, Technology and Society
SP - 75
EP - 86
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-7420
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15
AB - Background: Dietary practices often take the form of rules stating which foods should not be eaten, that is food proscriptions or taboos. Food proscriptions are usually temporary and selective, but food taboos may have an absolute nature. Food taboos refer to the restriction of specific food as a result of social or religious customs. In many traditional societies, cultural norms and customs govern behaviors including, during critical life stages like pregnancy. Every day at least 1600 women die from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth globally. Declaring certain food taboos because they are thought to make a person sick, is also the basis for the many food taboos affecting pregnant women. Objective: To assess the prevalence of food taboo and its associated factors among pregnant women in SendafaBeke town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study conducted from March 1, 2019 to May 17, 2019 among pregnant women who selected using systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using both a structured interviewer administered questionnaire and for qualitative, Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted. The data was coded, entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for data cleaning and analysis. Descriptive measures mean, median, frequency and percentage were used. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the magnitude and direction of association between a set of independent variables and the outcome variable at p<0.25. Then those variables with p<0.25 was selected for multivariable analysis. Finally, odds ratio with 95% confidence level was computed and p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results: More than half (55.3%) of total pregnant mothers encountered for at least for one food item. Food items avoided were, milk and milk products (26.9%), eggs (20.23%), linseed (17.86%), fatty meats (15.07%), fruits (9.52%), Honey (6.74%) and vegetables (3.57%). Reasons mentioned for avoidance of this food item; fear of fat baby, fear of abnormality baby, fear of abortion, plastered on fetal head and food flavor. Conclusion: This study revealed that food taboos and eating behavior during pregnancy like aversion, skipping and no use additional meal and occupation of husbands and educational status shows that significant association with food taboo affects more than half of pregnant mothers due to beliefs in old unscientific tales.
VL - 9
IS - 2
ER -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Robert Wondimu

SendafaBeke Town Health Office, SendafaBeke, Ethiopia
Esubalew Tesfahun

College of Health Science, Department of Public Health, DebreBehran University, DebreBehran, Ethiopia
Zalalem Kaba

East Wollega Zonal Health Office, WASH-NTDs Program, Nekemte, Ethiopia

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Robert Wondimu, Esubalew Tesfahun, Zalalem Kaba. (2021). Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. International Journal of Science, Technology and Society, 9(2), 75-86. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Robert Wondimu; Esubalew Tesfahun; Zalalem Kaba. Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Soc. 2021, 9(2), 75-86. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Robert Wondimu, Esubalew Tesfahun, Zalalem Kaba. Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Int J Sci Technol Soc. 2021;9(2):75-86. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15,
  author = {Robert Wondimu and Esubalew Tesfahun and Zalalem Kaba},
  title = {Food Taboo and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in SendafaBeke Town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia},
  journal = {International Journal of Science, Technology and Society},
  volume = {9},
  number = {2},
  pages = {75-86},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsts.20211002.15},
  abstract = {Background: Dietary practices often take the form of rules stating which foods should not be eaten, that is food proscriptions or taboos. Food proscriptions are usually temporary and selective, but food taboos may have an absolute nature. Food taboos refer to the restriction of specific food as a result of social or religious customs. In many traditional societies, cultural norms and customs govern behaviors including, during critical life stages like pregnancy. Every day at least 1600 women die from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth globally. Declaring certain food taboos because they are thought to make a person sick, is also the basis for the many food taboos affecting pregnant women. Objective: To assess the prevalence of food taboo and its associated factors among pregnant women in SendafaBeke town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study conducted from March 1, 2019 to May 17, 2019 among pregnant women who selected using systematic sampling technique. Data were collected using both a structured interviewer administered questionnaire and for qualitative, Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted. The data was coded, entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for data cleaning and analysis. Descriptive measures mean, median, frequency and percentage were used. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the magnitude and direction of association between a set of independent variables and the outcome variable at p<0.25. Then those variables with p<0.25 was selected for multivariable analysis. Finally, odds ratio with 95% confidence level was computed and p-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results: More than half (55.3%) of total pregnant mothers encountered for at least for one food item. Food items avoided were, milk and milk products (26.9%), eggs (20.23%), linseed (17.86%), fatty meats (15.07%), fruits (9.52%), Honey (6.74%) and vegetables (3.57%). Reasons mentioned for avoidance of this food item; fear of fat baby, fear of abnormality baby, fear of abortion, plastered on fetal head and food flavor. Conclusion: This study revealed that food taboos and eating behavior during pregnancy like aversion, skipping and no use additional meal and occupation of husbands and educational status shows that significant association with food taboo affects more than half of pregnant mothers due to beliefs in old unscientific tales.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download