Food taboos
As a result of wrong & unscientific belief, a number of foods are excluded from the list of food items by people. Most of these affect pregnant women & lactating mothers & convalescent people greatly. This is a common belief, for instance, that the pregnant mother should eat less to keep the size of the baby minimum for easy delivery. This is totally misleading & dangerous. A pregnant mother should eat one-fourth amount of food more than her normal requirement. Since she needs to eat for her baby as well. Another food taboo prohibits intake of water at the time of delivery of a baby. But the truth is that during delivery a mother loses huge amount of water as sweat , along with blood & delivery fluid. To compensate for this loss, & to save the mother from dehydration, sufficient amount of liquid should be given.
During pregnancy, mothers are often refused fruits like PAPAYA, BANANA, BLACK BERRY , & many other nutritious fruits due to belief that these may affect the child. Often a pregnant mother is not allowed to take eggs because of the belief that the eggs may interfere with the pregnancy. In Bangladesh a notable taboo is that the new-born babies are not given COLOSTRUM because of the belief that the thick material may upset the stomach. But the truth is that it is a very nutritious food & contains a great number of antibodies which protect the babies from diseases. Mother's milk is the best medicine for the baby.
Also people believe that PRAWN or SHRIMP causes reduction of milk secretion among lactating mothers. But this belief has no scientific basis. Some people believe that banana causes convulsions or tetanus in children. Another wrong practice is giving castor oil to children suffering from indigestion. Also, in rural areas it is a common belief that citrus fruits will delay healing process but in contrast it hastens the healing process.
However, the radio, television & especially newspapers have to play a role to eradicate this dangerous food taboos or misconceptions. Also, various clubs and organisations can contribute positively to stamp out these problems.
More importantly, the health department should address the issue.
Our combined efforts can remove these taboos from society to improve the health status of the affected people.
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