THE CULTURAL BELIEFS REGARDING PERINATAL DIETARY TABOOS

Dietary prohibitions are very usual among around the country, which are specifically discernible during the perinatal phase. In India, gravid mothers are shelled with various instructions that they become confused about what to consume and what to avoid. A study a mixed research approach was conducted to identify the cultural beliefs regarding perinatal dietary taboos.36 participants were selected by purposive sampling technique and data was collected by taboo structured questionnaire and open ended questionnaire. The overall finding of both qualitative and quantitative study shows that people have different views regarding the consumption of different food items. The foods which have been beneficial and healthy for the growth and development of the baby are all green leafy vegetables, lentils, butter, saffron and fruits such as custard apple, pine apple and pomegranate, which serve to be essential nutrients whereas food which should not be consumed by the mother during pregnancy and lactation have harmful effects are papaya, brinjal, lentil (urad Dal),hot foods items (meat, fish, egg, chillies, tea), green leafy vegetables and cold foods etc and shows that there is significant association between consumption of food item during perinatal period with selected demographic variable.