Maggiulli Ornella, Ranaivoarisoa Jean Freddy, Raliarison Hary, Andriamanantena Fifaliana, Raherimamonjy Sabrinah, Rabearison Mikanto, Stock Jay T, Wells Jonathan C K
Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Population, Policy and Practice Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
Département de Paléontologie et d'Anthropologie Biologique, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Am J Biol Anthropol. 2025 Mar;186(3):e70029. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.70029.
We aimed to test if different subsistence patterns shaped different antenatal eating behaviors in Madagascar, and to investigate if reasons given for maternal dietary restrictions disclosed actual biological pressures on pregnancy.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 312 participants to investigate differences in avoided food types during pregnancy, reasons, and infants' weight between subsistence patterns (agriculture, agriculture-husbandry/fishery, fishery), and associations between food types and reasons (Chi-squared, Fisher's, and Kruskal-Wallis test in R and SPSS). Secondary questions investigated regional variance in food avoidance (PCA), the association between the carbohydrate content of avoided foods and the fear of difficult delivery (regression analysis), and institutional and non-institutional influences on dietary proscriptions (heatmap).
Agriculturalists avoided more plant-based foods than fishers for the fear of difficult delivery due to large infants. Infants' weights at birth did not vary significantly across subsistence modes. Dietary norms were reinforced by an interplay between institutional and non-institutional advisors.
Food avoidances during pregnancy among Malagasy agriculturalists and fishers differ in targets and reasons. Avoided foods reflect staple diets, while the fear of difficult labor due to large infant size in relation to carbohydrate-rich foods among agriculturalists overlaps with a high incidence of obstructed labor in agricultural regions. Therefore, different subsistence modes affect antenatal behavior priorities differently. Taboos and sources of advice on maternal diet are fluid systems. We highlight the urgent need to better understand the determinants of obstructed labor and the patterns of spread of antenatal practices in Madagascar.
我们旨在测试不同的生计模式是否塑造了马达加斯加不同的产前饮食行为，并调查孕妇饮食限制的原因是否揭示了孕期实际的生理压力。
我们对312名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，以调查不同生计模式（农业、农牧/渔业、渔业）下孕期避免食用的食物类型、原因以及婴儿体重的差异，以及食物类型与原因之间的关联（在R和SPSS中进行卡方检验、费舍尔检验和克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验）。次要问题包括调查食物回避的区域差异（主成分分析）、避免食用的食物的碳水化合物含量与难产恐惧之间的关联（回归分析），以及机构和非机构因素对饮食禁忌的影响（热图）。
由于担心婴儿体型大导致难产，从事农业的人比从事渔业的人避免食用更多的植物性食物。不同生计模式下婴儿出生时的体重没有显著差异。饮食规范通过机构和非机构建议者之间的相互作用得到强化。
马达加斯加从事农业和渔业的人群在孕期避免食用的食物在目标和原因上存在差异。避免食用的食物反映了主食，而从事农业的人因婴儿体型大且与富含碳水化合物的食物有关而担心难产，这与农业地区难产发生率高相重叠。因此，不同的生计模式对产前行为优先级的影响不同。关于孕妇饮食的禁忌和建议来源是动态变化的体系。我们强调迫切需要更好地了解马达加斯加难产的决定因素以及产前行为的传播模式。
