ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author presents the state of biomedical knowledge on food consumption during pregnancy and then explores the ambiguity in the biomedical paradigm by comparing and contrasting Indian and international dietary guidelines. She explores local models of food consumption during pregnancy and considers the degree to which individual women's food consumption adhered to these ethnodietary beliefs. The author examines the folk dietetics of the community and investigates how individual women's nutritional landscapes were influenced by their particular socioscapes. She also examines the quality and quantity of foods eaten by study participants by focusing on energy, macronutrient, and micronutrient daily intakes analyzed from 24-hour food recalls. The author describes the minerals important in human biology, especially during pregnancy, followed by the vitamins. She focuses on the vitamins for which Indian recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) have been delineated. The author uses Indian RDAs for moderately active women.
