Morrison, Joanna;
Basnet, Machhindra;
Sharma, Neha;
(2023)
Eating for honour: A cultural-ecological analysis of food behaviours among adolescent girls in the southern plains of Nepal.
PLOS ONE
, 18
(8)
, Article e0290405. 10.1371/journal.pone.0290405.
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Abstract
Access to adequate and nutritious food is important for the current and future health of adolescent girls. Interventions often focus on the individual as responsible for their own health ignoring the complex structural issues that underlie optimal nutrition. In South Asia gender inequalities have been noted as an important determinant of poor nutrition among women and their young children, but analysis of adolescent girls' diets and what influences these are rarely undertaken. Therefore, we sought to analyse the factors affecting what and where girls' eat and what affects their behaviour in the plains of Nepal, using a cultural-ecological approach. We analysed a secondary qualitative dataset of focus group discussions with adolescent girls aged 12-19 years old, young mothers, mothers-in-law, and older female key informants. Eating was heavily influenced by patriarchal norms. Boys had preferential access to food, money, and freedom of movement to appreciate their future role in providing for the family. Food was an investment, and boys were perceived to have more nutritional need than girls. Girls were not perceived to be a good return on investment of food, and eating practices sought to prepare them for life as a subservient daughter-in-law and wife. Obedience and sacrifice were valued in girls, and they were expected to eat less and do more housework than boys. Girls' eating and behaviour was constrained to maintain self and family honour. Interventions should acknowledge cultural influences on eating and engage multiple actors in addressing harmful gender norms which limit eating and prevent girls from reaching their potential.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Eating for honour: A cultural-ecological analysis of food behaviours among adolescent girls in the southern plains of Nepal |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0290405 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290405 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2023 Morrison et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | Food, Eating, Nutrition, Adolescents, Human families, Hinduism, Eating habits, Nepal |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10175699 |
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