Rajkumar Patil et al Calicut Medical Journal 2010;8(2):e4 Page number not for indexing purposes ________________________________________________________1 Original article Taboos and misconceptions about food during pregnancy among rural population of Pondicherry Rajkumar Patil 1 ,Anuj Mittal 2 , Vedapriya DR 2 ,M Iqbal Khan 1 , M.Raghavia 2 Department of Community Medicine 1 Geetanjali Medical College,Udaipur,Rajasthan 2 A.V. Medical College, Pondicherry Summary Maximum misconceptions about nutrition revolve around pregnancy; affecting a vital period in human lifecycle. The aim of the present study was to explore food taboos during pregnancy among the rural population of Pondicherry. A cross sectional study was conducted in a village under Rural Health Centre of Community Medicine Department of AV Medical College at Pondicherry. Total 339 adults were interviewed from the village. Statistical analysis was done using proportions (%) and Chi-square test. 62.8% participants believed that consumption of saffron by pregnant woman results in a fairer skin child. Most common reason for restriction of specified fruit/vegetable was abortion (86.1%). Overall more than half of the participants lack awareness; they still believe in old unscientific tales. Illiteracy is an important factor responsible for this. Keywords: food taboo, misconception, health, food, pregnancy Introduction All people, whether rural or urban, have their own beliefs and practices. Some are based on centuries of trial and error and have positive values while others may be useless or harmful. (1) This is true for food also. Some food items are considered good and some bad at different ages of life. Food taboos are known from virtually all human societies. Probably food taboos (as unwritten social rules) exist in one form or another in every society on Earth, for it is a fact that perhaps nowhere in the world, a people, a tribe, or an ethnic group, makes use of the full potential of edible items in its surroundings.(2,3) It is the regular avoidance of a food that turns into a tradition which ends up eventually as a food taboo.(2) Pregnancy imposes the need for considerable extra calorie and nutrient requirements. A balanced and adequate diet is therefore, of utmost importance during pregnancy and lactation to meet the increased needs of the mother, and to prevent “nutritional stress”.(4)In various studies it was seen that pregnant women in various parts of the world are forced to abstain from nutritious foods as a part of their traditional food habits.(5,6,7) We could not find any study related to food taboos and beliefs in South India so we planned the study. This paper tries to explore some food taboos and their reasons among rural population of Pondicherry. Materials and Methods A cross sectional study was planned to study the misconceptions about food during pregnancy among adult rural population.A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used. Before interview, subjects were informed about the purpose of the study and consent was taken. The study was conducted in the field area of Rural Health and Training Centre, Manapet, of department of Community