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Fetal Protection

The Roles of Social Learning and Innate Food Aversions in South India

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Abstract

Pregnancy involves puzzling aversions to nutritious foods. Although studies generally support the hypotheses that such aversions are evolved mechanisms to protect the fetus from toxins and/or pathogens, other factors, such as resource scarcity and psychological distress, have not been investigated as often. In addition, many studies have focused on populations with high-quality diets and low infectious disease burden, conditions that diverge from the putative evolutionary environment favoring fetal protection mechanisms. This study tests the fetal protection, resource scarcity, and psychological distress hypotheses of food aversions in a resource-constrained population with high infectious disease burden. The role of culture is also explored. In the first of two studies in Tamil Nadu, India, we investigated cultural explanations of pregnancy diet among non-pregnant women (N = 54). In the second study, we conducted structured interviews with pregnant women (N = 94) to determine their cravings and aversions, resource scarcity, indices of pathogen exposure, immune activation, psychological distress, and emic causes of aversions. Study 1 found that fruits were the most commonly reported food that pregnant women should avoid because of their harmful effects on infants. Study 2 found modest support for the fetal protection hypothesis for food aversions. It also found that pregnant women most commonly avoided fruits as well as “black” and “hot” foods. Aversions were primarily acquired through learning and focused on protecting the infant from harm. Our findings provide modest support for the fetal protection hypothesis and surprisingly strong support for the influence of cultural norms and learning on dietary aversions in pregnancy.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend special thanks to study participants as well as to Krishnaswamy Gayatri, Vibha Gopal, and Xavier and Hushmija Mariadoss for their hospitality and assistance during the data collection process. We also give our sincere gratitude to the National Folklore Support Centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Special thanks are owed the WSUV Bioanthropology lab group and Marsha Quinlan. Finally, we thank three anonymous reviewers for their exceptionally helpful comments and suggestions. Funding was provided by Washington State University’s Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA).

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, PO Box 644910, Pullman, WA, 99163, USA

    Caitlyn D. Placek & Edward H. Hagen

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  1. Caitlyn D. Placek
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Correspondence to Caitlyn D. Placek.

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Placek, C.D., Hagen, E.H. Fetal Protection. Hum Nat 26, 255–276 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-015-9239-2

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