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Cited by 67Child Nutrition and Water AccessDietary Effects on HealthNutrition, Health and Food Behavior

Ethiopian orthodox fasting and lactating mothers: longitudinal study on dietary pattern and nutritional status in rural tigray, Ethiopia

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Desalegn, Beruk Berhanu, Lambert, Christine, Riedel, Simon, Negese, Tegene, Biesalski, Hans Konrad·2018·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph15081767PMC PMC6121597
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Abstract

About half of Ethiopians belong to the Orthodox Tewahedo religion. Annually, more than 200 days are dedicated to religious fasting, which includes abstaining from all types of food, animal source foods, and water. However, the association of fasting with undernutrition remains unknown in Ethiopia. Therefore, dietary pattern and nutritional status of lactating women during lent fasting and non-fasting periods were studied, and predictor variables for maternal underweight were identified. To achieve this, lactating mothers in lent fasting (N = 572) and non-fasting (N = 522) periods participated from rural Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Average minimum diet diversity (MDD-W) was computed from two 24-h recalls, and nutritional status was assessed using body mass index (BMI). Binary logistic regression was used to identify potential predictors of maternal underweight. Wilcoxon signed-rank (WSRT) and McNemar’s tests were used for comparison of the two periods. The prevalence of underweight in fasting mothers was 50.6%. In the multivariate logistic regression model, younger age, sickness in the last four weeks preceding the survey, fasting during pregnancy, lactation periods, grandfathers’ as household decision makers, previous aid experience, non-improved water source, and not owning chicken were positively associated with maternal underweight. In WSRT, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference on maternal body weight and BMI between periods. The average number of meals, diet diversity, and animal source foods (ASFs), consumption scores were significantly increased in non-fasting compared to fasting periods in both fasting and non-fasting mothers (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, and p < 0.001, respectively). Consumption of dark green leafy vegetables was higher in the fasting period (11%) than non-fasting (3.6%), in the study population. As a conclusion, Ethiopian Orthodox fasting negatively affected maternal nutritional status and dietary pattern in rural Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. To reduce maternal malnutrition in Ethiopia, existing multi-sectoral nutrition intervention strategies, should include religious institutions in a sustainable manner.

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  • Religious, new mothers who were fasting and did not have access to improved water or sanitation were more likely to be underweight.

    “For example, religious, new mothers who were fasting and did not have access to improved water or sanitation were more likely to be underweight (Desalegn et al., 2018).”

    From A Systematic Review of Water and Gender Interlinkages: Assessing the Intersection With Health (2020) · cites this paper as Desalegn et al., 2018

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3 of the 61 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [29]Karle C.S. Fasting among Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia: The Symbolic and Nutritional Significance of the Fast for Reproductive Women Bachelor’s Thesis Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark 2017 35
  2. [59]World Health Organization (WHO) WHO Recommendations on Postnatal Care of the Mother and Newborn 2013 WHO Geneva, Switzerland 2014 1 72 24624481

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Authors
Desalegn, B. B., Lambert, C., Riedel, S., Negese, T., & Biesalski, H. K.
Affiliations
  • University of Hohenheim (DE)
  • Hawassa University (ET)
Corresponding author
Desalegn, Beruk Berhanu
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2018-08-17
Volume
15
Issue
8
Pages
1767
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph15081767
PMC
PMC6121597
OpenAlex
W2887293318
Cited by
67
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 3
FWCI
5.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Food Security Center to Micro-gap Ethiopia)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Dietary Effects on Health
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Keywords
religious fasting, lactating women, maternal underweight, maternal nutritional status, dietary habits, dietary diversity, animal source foods, dark green leafy vegetables, fasting during pregnancy
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Animals, Body Weight, Breast Feeding, Diet, Ethiopia, Family Characteristics, Fasting, Female, Health Status, Humans, Lactation, Longitudinal Studies, Mothers, Pregnancy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Population, Socioeconomic Factors, Thinness, Water Supply, Body Mass Index, Prevalence, Logistic Models, Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Young Adult

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