For each person food is a vital component of life, as it contains the nutrients he/she needs for daily living and also plays an important role in social life. However, food in appropriate quantities is not always accessible to all people, for various political, economic and geographic reasons⁽¹⁾. Mothers in developing countries, especially pregnant and lactating ones, are considered to be nutritionally vulnerable as they are often subjected to different degrees of nutritional stress. At the individual level, nutrition requirements change throughout the lifespan, from childhood and adolescence to pregnancy and breast-feeding and into old age.

Food choices are determined by multiple factors like social, cultural, economic and environmental influences, coupled with individual taste preferences. Individual characteristics such as income, education, cooking ability, age and ethnicity also affect food choice. It has been established that women from less privileged communities in India tend to suffer from malnutrition of different grades and their dietary energy intake is not always adequate to compensate for the heavy physical workload which they often have to undertake⁽Reference Chatterjee and Lambert²⁾. Mothers are also subject to nutritional stress owing the nursing process and their health risk is multiplied by frequent pregnancies, coupled with a lack of access to and control over income, inadequate education, excessive demands on their time, and so on⁽Reference Leslie³⁾. The success of lactation and the health status of the infant depend entirely on the type of diet consumed by women during pregnancy and lactation⁽Reference Kwatra and Sehgal⁴⁾.

It is widely accepted that cultural beliefs and practices play a role in the successful dissemination of nutrition messages to the community. Since maternal nutrition plays an important role in pregnancy outcomes, ignorance about its needs can cause permanent damage to the health of the newborn. Sood and Kapil⁽Reference Sood and Kapil⁵⁾ studied the nutritional status of pregnant mothers and reported that 64 % of them believed that food restriction in general for the first six months of pregnancy results in a smaller baby, making delivery easier. While reviewing major problems and key issues in maternal health in Nepal, Simakhada et al.⁽Reference Simkhada, van Teijlingen, Porter and Simkhada⁶⁾ reported poor knowledge of the mothers about diet and nutrition. Nutritional anaemia was detected as one of the prime causes of high maternal mortality in Nepal. Frequent pregnancy associated with poor nourishment put these mothers at high risk during delivery⁽Reference Matsumura and Gubhaju⁷⁾.

Every society has its own traditional beliefs and practices related to health care in general and regarding harmful as well as beneficial effects of foods for women during pregnancy. These beliefs may not always follow modern biomedical norms of maternal nutrition, fetal growth and safe delivery⁽Reference Nag⁸⁾. These beliefs and practices are linked to the existing cultural ethos and different components of the socio-cultural environment, including the educational attainment of the women. Of various factors that influence the nutritional status of women, dietary habits especially during the two crucial periods of life – pregnancy and lactation – are important. The woman herself or her family often feels the need to consume special foods to maintain good health during pregnancy⁽Reference Sai Leela and Busi⁹⁾. Two studies, one in Hyderabad⁽Reference Surekha¹⁰⁾ and the other in Rajasthan⁽Reference Pendse and Giri¹¹⁾, revealed that large numbers of women used special food during pregnancy and during lactation, which supports the suggestion that women attach much importance to it.

It is often reported that poverty, non-availability of certain food items, misbeliefs, and at times ignorance, force women to avoid certain foods during the postpartum period; hence that certain foods are considered taboo. These taboo items may include many nutritious foods which a mother badly needs. During pregnancy, such avoidances are observed in many instances, as well⁽Reference Nag⁸⁾. However, a study on maternal diet and infant feeding practices among the Ho tribe in Chotanagpur, erstwhile Bihar⁽Reference Sinha and Pandey¹²⁾, showed no food restriction during pregnancy. Lactating mothers were given special food (cooked rice mixed with salt, turmeric soup, dried onion, papaya, some herbs, etc.) to increase milk production.

A joint survey⁽¹³⁾ by the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta and the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Sikkim measured average daily consumption of different categories of foodstuff by women in general in Sikkim. The study revealed that they consumed staple foods such as rice and maize adequately, while a large number of families reported no intake of all other categories of foodstuff. Mothers reported to have consumed meat, egg, milk, dhal (pulses) and chhang (indigenous millet beer) for special inclusion as and when affordable. Some prominent food taboos included chilli and green leafy vegetables both antepartum and postpartum, and pork and mutton postpartum or during lactation.

A study in rural Tamil Nadu⁽Reference Anderson, Thilsted, Nielson and Rangasamy¹⁴⁾ revealed that women consumed more green leafy vegetables, fruits, animal protein and dairy products during pregnancy than their usual intake. A significant association was observed between intake of food items and socio-economic factors such as parity, education, family type, family income and visits to health-care services. In some parts of Tamil Nadu women also followed food restrictions on items such as papaya, fish, green dhal and pumpkin, and consumed certain home-made foods.

The food culture of the state of Sikkim, nestled in the Himalayas, is reflected in the pattern of food production⁽Reference Tamang¹⁵⁾. Preparation of wild edible plants including bamboo shoots, ferns and their parts (seeds, fruits, roots, leaves, flowers) in the local diet form an important component of food culture. Although several studies have been conducted to investigate the food practices during different phases of pregnancy among Indian rural (including tribal) women in different states, there remains a dearth of information pertaining to the food practices during pregnancy of women residing in a rural mountainous setting like Sikkim.

The objectives of the present study were to document the food practices of a group of Nepalese women during the antepartum and postpartum, and to describe how factors such as social group, education, parity and socio-economic status (measured in terms of monthly expenditure) were related to food intakes during these periods.

Results and discussion

Table 1 shows the distribution of mothers according to social group, literacy status, parity and economic status measured in terms of monthly expenditure. The mean age at marriage was 18·7 (sd 3·10) years. The illiterate group of women were older on average (27·9 years) than the literate group (24·6 years). Mothers with high parity were married at a younger age on average than were mothers with low parity. Tables 2 and 3 show the types of foods these mothers consumed during two important phases of pregnancy. Special foods were taken by 61·3 % of mothers during the antepartum and by 86·4 % of mothers during the postpartum. Interestingly, more mothers with low parity consumed special food during the antepartum, while mothers who were pregnant for the third or fourth time consumed special foods less during the postpartum. Consumption of fruits was not very common among these mothers whereas consumption of green leafy vegetables (rai sag) was very common as it grows abundantly in the area.

Table 1 Distribution by social variables: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

†Higher in the social hierarchy.

‡Lower in the social hierarchy.

§Based on monthly expenditure.

Table 2 Distribution by types of special food taken during the antepartum: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

†Higher in the social hierarchy.

‡Lower in the social hierarchy.

§Based on monthly expenditure.

Table 3 Distribution by types of special food taken during the postpartum: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

†Higher in the social hierarchy.

‡Lower in the social hierarchy.

§Based on monthly expenditure.

The mothers under study reported certain food items as taboo during the postpartum period only. As depicted in Table 4, up to week 6 postpartum, 65·3 % of mothers observed taboos on certain categories of food such as milk, eggs, fish, meat, pulses, green vegetables and fruits, which are most perceivably hot and sour foods.

Table 4 Distribution by types of food tabooed during the postpartum: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

†Higher in the social hierarchy.

‡Lower in the social hierarchy.

§Based on monthly expenditure.

Statistically significant differences in fruit consumption during the antepartum were observed between mothers depending on parity and economic status (Table 5), while there were no differences in the consumption of different food types during the postpartum (Table 6).

Table 5 Test of significance (χ ², df) for consumption of different food types in different socio-economic groups during the antepartum: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

*Statistically significant at 0·05 level.

Table 6 Test of significance (χ ², df) for consumption of different food types in different socio-economic groups during the postpartum: Nepali mothers from five villages in east Sikkim, India, April to June 2004

Traditionally, mothers in Sikkim used to consume special foods preferably during the postpartum period with the intention of providing better nutrition to lactating mothers to help them regain energy and resume work easily. Local alcoholic beverages are commonly consumed among women during the postpartum, because high-energy food beverages have been proved as nutritionally rich⁽Reference Tamang, Thapa, Tamang and Rai¹⁹⁾. Taboo on certain food items was observed during the postpartum also to keep young children away from the possible adverse outcomes of those foods taken by lactating mothers.

The present study revealed that just over 60 % of young literate mothers (with low parity) consumed special foods during the antepartum. These women could realize the need for taking personal care during pregnancy. This change in consumption pattern among the younger women reflects the success of the safe motherhood campaign recently promoted by the government health department on the one hand, and behaviour change through media exposure on the other.