Zeitschrift für Ernährung und Lebensmittelwissenschaften
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Across Sectional Study on Social and Cultural Food Taboos Related Barriers in Prevention of Anemia in Pregnant Women of Amravati District, Maharashtra India

Usha Deshmukh*

Introduction: Anemia is a major health challenge in developing countries during pregnancy, including India. Nutritional requirements increases during pregnancy and restrictions on consumption of foods rich in the required nutrients may have negative consequences for a mother as well as for her growing fetus. Therefore, our objective for performing this study was to evaluate the social and cultural barriers in the prevention of Anemia and to evaluate the perceptions and practices of anemic women.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study, including 100 pregnant women, was conducted in a Vatsalya Hospital, Amravati. In depth interviews were conducted with these 100 patients.

Results: Total 100 antenatal women were taken for the study. In which the socio-demographic profile of the participants, distribution of participants as per obstetric history and admissions along with their education, description of past medical history, and their knowledge and attitudes along with the actual practices were studied.

Conclusion: As a conclusion, adherence to social and cultural related food beliefs is evident in pregnant women found in Amravati city. There is a need for nutritional education and awareness creation about the nutritional consequences of following food taboos and iron supplements. As a short term intervention, this kind of education should be developed and disseminated during ANC follow ups, and should target not only pregnant women but also their husbands and families. In the longer run, the literacy level of mothers should be improved across the life cycle to avoid such misconceptions.