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.
