Riang'a Roselyter Monchari, Broerse Jacqueline, Nangulu Anne Kisaka
Moi University, School of Arts and Social Sciences, P.O. Box 3900-30100, Eldoret, Kenya.
Athena Institute, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2017 May 25;13(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s13002-017-0157-8.
Understanding food beliefs and practices is critical to the development of dietary recommendations, nutritional programmes, and educational messages. This study aimed to understand the pregnancy food beliefs and practices and the underlying reasons for these among the contemporary rural Kalenjin communities of Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.
Through semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 154 pregnant and post-natal Kalenjin women about restricted and recommended foods, and why they are restricted or recommended during pregnancy. Respondents were purposively selected (based on diversity) from those attending Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care in 23 rural public health facilities. Key informant interviews (n = 9) with traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) who were also herbalists, community health workers, and nursing officers in charge of MCH were also conducted. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS software. Data from respondents who gave consent to be tape recorded (n = 42) was transcribed and qualitatively analysed using MAXQDA software.
The restriction of animal organs specifically the tongue, heart, udder and male reproductive organs, meat and eggs, and the recommendation of traditional green vegetables and milk was reported by more than 60% of the respondents. Recommendation of fruits, traditional herbs, ugali (a dish made of maize flour, millet flour, or Sorghum flour, sometimes mixed with cassava flour), porridge and liver, and restriction of avocadoes and oily food were reported by more than 20% of the respondents. The reasons for observing these dietary precautions were mainly fears of: big foetuses, less blood, lack of strength during birth, miscarriages or stillbirths, and maternal deaths as well as child's colic and poor skin conditions after birth.
Pregnancy food beliefs were widely known and practised mainly to protect the health of the mother and child, and ensuring successful pregnancy outcome. Given the deep-rooted nature of the beliefs, it is advisable that when nutritious foods are restricted, nutritional interventions should rather search for alternative sources of nutrition which are available and considered to be appropriate for pregnancy. On the other hand, nutritional advice that does not address these health concerns and assumptions that underlie successful pregnancy and delivery is unlikely to be effective.
了解食物观念和饮食习惯对于制定饮食建议、营养计划及教育信息至关重要。本研究旨在了解肯尼亚乌阿辛吉舒县当代农村卡伦金社区的孕期食物观念和饮食习惯及其背后的原因。
通过半结构化访谈，从154名怀孕及产后的卡伦金妇女中收集关于受限食物和推荐食物，以及孕期为何对其进行限制或推荐的数据。受访者是从23个农村公共卫生机构接受母婴保健护理的人群中（基于多样性）有目的地选取的。还对9名关键信息提供者进行了访谈，他们是传统助产士（同时也是草药医生）、社区卫生工作者以及负责母婴保健的护理人员。定量数据使用SPSS软件进行分析。对同意录音的受访者（n = 42）的数据进行转录，并使用MAXQDA软件进行定性分析。
超过60%的受访者表示限制食用动物器官，特别是舌头、心脏、乳房和雄性生殖器官、肉类和蛋类，推荐食用传统绿色蔬菜和牛奶。超过20%的受访者表示推荐食用水果、传统草药、乌加利（一种由玉米粉、小米粉或高粱粉制成的食物，有时混合木薯粉）、粥和肝脏，限制食用鳄梨和油腻食物。遵守这些饮食预防措施的原因主要是担心：胎儿过大、血液不足、分娩时缺乏力量、流产或死产、产妇死亡以及孩子出生后患绞痛和皮肤状况不佳。
孕期食物观念广为人知且普遍践行，主要是为了保护母婴健康并确保妊娠顺利结局。鉴于这些观念根深蒂固，建议当营养丰富的食物受到限制时，营养干预应寻找可获取且被认为适合孕期的替代营养来源。另一方面，不解决这些影响成功妊娠和分娩的健康问题及假设的营养建议不太可能有效。
