ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION A series of successive pregnancies subject most rural South Indian women to dietary restrictions for a significant part of their lives (Gopalan and Naidu 1972). While folk dietary restrictions have frequently been cited in Indian health sector reports (United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare 1979; Voluntary Health Association 1975b) as negatively affecting the health status of pregnant women among the rural poor, little attempt has been made to understand how and to what extent.1 Even fewer studies have examined folk dietetics during pregnancy in relation to popular notions of ethnophysiology, lay health concerns, and preventive and promotive health behavior.2 In this chapter, we investigate these issues in a coastal region of Karnataka. The first topic discussed is the relationship between a layperson’s ideas about appropriate baby size and her food consumption behavior. Both the quantity and quality of food considered appropriate to eat during pregnancy are considered and alternative patterns of food preference are discussed in relation to folk health ideology. Concepts of reproductive ethnophysiology are highlighted with regard to specific dietary practices and folk medical behavior. Public health ramifications of the study are discussed and suggestions are made for the incorporation of greater anthropological perspective into nutrition education efforts.
