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Culture and Eating in the Perinatal Period and Early Childhood

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Clinical Handbook of Transcultural Infant Mental Health

Abstract

This chapter describes the issues around maternal eating during pregnancy and infant and preschool feeding. The varied practices of “eating during pregnancy” are described in terms of how they are dictated by cultural and socioeconomic factors. Feeding is strongly influenced by culture, superimposed on ethological predispositions of mother and infant. The meaning of food and the manner in which young children are fed are constructed by cultural influences. Breastfeeding, apparently a purely biological phenomenon, is determined by cultural values. It is more frequently practiced in poor countries in which it may be the only way to maintain the infant’s weight. The timing if weaning also has an impact on the weight of the baby and the introduction of new foods. The size and weight of the baby is also determined by cultural representations; in some countries, mothers may prefer “small babies.” Feeding the infant is par excellence an interpersonal process that may be transformed into pure introduction of food in the mouth even in young children. This may be the case in childcare centers where many “rules of feeding” may be imposed by well-meaning caregivers. The nutritional status of young children is still threatened by poverty in many countries, leading to a high prevalence of malnutrition and growth stunting, which have long-term consequences for the child.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    J. Martin Maldonado-Duran

  2. Mexican Psychoanalytic Institute, Mexico City, Mexico

    Teresa Lartigue Becerra

  3. Massachussetts Memorial Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Kenia Gomez

Authors
  1. J. Martin Maldonado-Duran
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  2. Teresa Lartigue Becerra
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  3. Kenia Gomez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Martin Maldonado-Duran .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    J. Martin Maldonado-Duran

  2. Department of Pediatric Neurology, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Hollywood, FL, USA

    Andrés Jiménez-Gómez

  3. Trauma and Grief Center, Texas Childrens Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Maria X. Maldonado-Morales

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Felipe Lecannelier

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Maldonado-Duran, J.M., Becerra, T.L., Gomez, K. (2019). Culture and Eating in the Perinatal Period and Early Childhood. In: Maldonado-Duran, J.M., Jiménez-Gómez, A., Maldonado-Morales, M.X., Lecannelier, F. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Transcultural Infant Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23440-9_14

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