Sociocultural Determinants of BMI-for-Age: Effects of Food Taboos, Cultural Beliefs, and Food Fallacies Among Adolescent Girls in Sokoto, Nigeria
Although food taboos, cultural beliefs, and food fallacies are highly prevalent among adolescent girls in Sokoto, Nigeria, this study found they do not significantly influence BMI-for-age, which instead is determined by age and education levels while revealing a double burden of malnutrition concentrated in early adolescence.
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In the bustling cities of northern Nigeria, a young girl's diet is shaped by more than just hunger or availability. It is guided by a complex web of tradition, faith, and community wisdom. In this region, certain foods are sometimes avoided not because they are unavailable, but because they are believed to bring bad luck, cause illness, or alter a person's character. These prohibitions, known as food taboos, are often passed down through generations by elders and religious leaders. Alongside them are cultural beliefs—shared ideas about what is appropriate for a girl to eat during specific life stages, such as menstruation—and food fallacies, which are mistaken ideas about nutrition that sound plausible but lack scientific backing. For adolescent girls, who are growing rapidly and have high nutritional needs, these social rules can determine whether they eat a balanced meal or skip nutritious foods entirely. Understanding how these deep-seated beliefs affect physical health is crucial, as malnutrition in this age group can have lasting consequences for their development and future well-being.
A team of researchers set out to investigate this dynamic in Sokoto Metropolis, a major city in northwestern Nigeria. They wanted to know if the specific foods girls avoided, the cultural rules they followed, and the mistaken beliefs they held actually changed their body size and shape. To find out, they studied 251 girls between the ages of 10 and 19. The team did not rely on guesses; they measured the girls directly, recording their height and weight to calculate a standard health score that compares a girl's body size to what is expected for her age. They also asked the girls detailed questions about their eating habits, what foods they refused to eat, and whether they believed common myths about nutrition, such as the idea that skipping breakfast helps a girl stay slim or that eating certain foods causes infertility.
The study revealed that these sociocultural influences were indeed powerful and widespread. Nearly nine out of ten girls avoided at least one food from a list of twelve, though the most common avoidance was snails, a restriction driven largely by religious rules rather than nutritional concerns. When snails were excluded from the count, about four out of ten girls still avoided at least one other food. The reasons for these avoidances were varied, with religious prohibitions being the most common, followed by health concerns like allergies. The girls reported that these rules were taught to them primarily by their fathers, grandmothers, and mothers. Furthermore, the girls held strong cultural beliefs; more than half agreed that certain foods should be restricted during menstruation or that a girl's marriage prospects could be affected by what she ate. They also embraced several food fallacies, with a majority believing that sugar causes all illnesses in adolescents or that vitamin supplements are unnecessary if one eats any food at all.
Despite the prevalence of these beliefs and the fact that many girls admitted they changed their eating habits because of them, the researchers found a surprising disconnect between these social factors and the girls' actual physical health. The study showed that the girls' body measurements were not significantly linked to how many foods they avoided, how strongly they held cultural beliefs, or how many nutritional myths they believed. Whether a girl followed many food rules or few, her body size remained statistically the same. The only factors that clearly predicted a girl's nutritional status were her age and her level of education. The data showed a "double burden" of malnutrition concentrated in the youngest group of girls, those aged 10 to 13. In this age bracket, more than a quarter were underweight, while over a fifth were overweight or obese. As the girls grew older, these extremes became much less common.
The researchers concluded that while food taboos, cultural beliefs, and food fallacies are deeply ingrained in the lives of adolescent girls in Sokoto, they do not appear to be the primary drivers of whether a girl is underweight or overweight. This does not mean these beliefs are harmless; they may still affect the quality of a girl's diet or her intake of specific vitamins and minerals, even if they do not change her overall body size. The study suggests that the reasons for malnutrition in this population are more closely tied to age and educational stage than to the specific food rules girls follow. The findings point toward a need for nutrition programs that respect local traditions while gently correcting harmful myths, particularly targeting the youngest adolescents who are most vulnerable to both undernutrition and overnutrition. By involving family members and religious leaders, who are the main sources of these food rules, health officials can work to ensure that cultural practices support rather than hinder the healthy growth of the next generation.
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