Pregnancy-related food habits among women of rural Sikkim, India.

OBJECTIVE Every society follows its own traditional health-care beliefs and practices during and after pregnancy, which is intimately linked to its socio-cultural environment. The objective of the present study was to document pregnancy-related food practices and the social-cultural factors linked with them. DESIGN The present study was a cross-sectional one conducted among a group of women residing in five villages in east Sikkim, India. Mothers who had given birth to a child one year before the survey participated in the study. The mothers answered a pre-tested questionnaire on food habits and practices followed antepartum and for 6 weeks postpartum. SUBJECTS The study group consisted of 199 women of Nepali caste groups with variations in economic condition. RESULTS More than 86 % of mothers consumed special foods during the postpartum period. Taboos on different food categories during the postpartum were reported only by 65.3 % of mothers. Factors found to be significantly associated with special food consumption were literacy status during the antepartum and parity during the postpartum. CONCLUSIONS The change in consumption patterns reflects the success of a safe motherhood campaign propagated by the government. Detailed investigation in this area, involving per capita daily consumption during pregnancy and the postpartum period, is needed.