SynthesisBMC pregnancy and childbirth2023
Food taboos and their perceived reasons among pregnant women in Ethiopia: a systematic review, 2022.
Synthesis in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Perceptions of African Migrant Women Regarding Food Consumption During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period in Australia: A Qualitative Study.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Undernutrition Among Children Under Five in Coastal Bangladesh: A Community-Based Study.Food science & nutrition · 2026Article
- Dietary knowledge, beliefs and taboos affecting pregnancy outcomes: a qualitative study in Jimma, South-West Ethiopia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Food taboos and other cultural taboos in history of miscarriage: a hospital-based study from India.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Nutritional status and household food security of pregnant women: insights from the Nutritional Status of Expectant Mothers and their Newborn Infants (NuEMI) study in South Africa.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Food consumption score and the Nexus of maternal nutritional status among pregnant women in Gamo Zone, South Ethiopia.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Key element missed in nutrition policy: why does undernutrition not decline among pregnant women in Ethiopia?Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere are foods considered as taboo across different communities in the world and in Ethiopia in particular. Although food taboos exist across all ages or physiologic states, they are predominant among pregnant women and children. Identifying such foods among pregnant women is crucial in providing focused interventions and prevents their negative consequences. Therefore, the aim of this review was to review the available evidence on food taboos and their perceived reasons among pregnant women in Ethiopia to provide comprehensive and precise evidence for decision making.
methodsElectronic search of the literature was made from Pub-Med, Google Scholar, Google Scopus, and Medline databases using search terms set based on the PICO/PS (Population, Intervention/exposure, Comparison, and Outcome) and PS (Population and Situation) search table. The search was made from December 05, 2020 - December, 29, 2021, and updated on January, 2022. All quantitative and qualitative studies published in English were included in the review. The systematic review protocol was registered at INPLASY (Registration number: INPLASY202310078). The outcome of interest was food taboo for pregnant women and its perceived reasons. The results of the review was narrated.
resultsAfter identifying eighty two articles, thirteen were found eligible for the review. Vegetables, fruits, and fatty foods like meat, and dairy products were considered as taboo for pregnant women in different parts of Ethiopia. The reasons stated for the food taboo vary from fear of having a big baby, obstructed labour, and abortion to evil eye and physical and aesthetic deformities in the newborn.
conclusionsThough not uniform across the country, there are foods considered as taboo for pregnant women in Ethiopia due to several perceived reasons, misconceptions, and societal influences. This could increase the risk of malnutrition and could have short and long term consequences on both the mother and her growing foetus. Therefore, context specific nutritional counseling with emphasis during ante-natal care and post-natal service is important.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.