Food Taboos, Factors of Chronic Malnutrition in Bopa, South West Benin

Abstract

The quality of the diet from the first hours of life is decisive. Any inappropriate diet for pregnant women or infants has an irreversible impact on a child's bio-morphological and cognitive levels, leading to chronic malnutrition. This study assesses the factors that explain adherence to dietary taboos or restrictions and the factors statistically significantly related to the choice of nutritional restrictions in households housing stunted children under five years of age in southwest Benin. Data were collected in December 2020 on a sample of 558 families in 40 villages in the commune of Bopa in southwest Benin. Socioeconomic data from families, and anthropometric data from children (498) are analyzed within univariate, bivariate and binary logit regression methods. Results show that 36.3% of children are stunted, and 76.2% of households with stunted children have food taboos. In addition, 69.6% of households have at least one taboo on consuming beef, goat, poultry, pork, eggs, and fish, reducing in-take of the required micronutrients child growth. The gender of the head of the household, their occupation, religion, level of education, age category, area of residence, level of education of the wife of the head of the household, and average monthly household income have statistically significant effects on adherence to food taboos and restrictions in the household diet. To effectively combat stunting, advocacy targeting religious leaders and the local elite is needed.