Abstract
Food taboos of pregnant and lactating women were investigated in 1970 and 1971, by the questionnaire method. A number of 4021 pregnant and lactating women attending mother's classes set up at 124 health centers in different districts of Japan responded. The following results were obtained:
1) Fifty four per cent had some knowledge on food taboos and each person knew about 2.0 food taboos on the average.
2) Aged women knew many food taboos as compared to young persons. No difference could be found between persons of different occupations such as office workers, those engaged in commerce and farmers.
3) In Hokkaido district many people had knowledge on food taboos relative to those living in other districts.
4) The higher the education they received the fewer obeyed food taboos.
5) A total of 212 food taboos was found. The number of each kind of tabooed foods were as follows: vegetables and fruits 94, animal foods 71, spices 22 and other foods 25.
6) Most subjects gave items as persimmon, squid, octopus, eggplant, spices and so on. Some indicated nutritious foods such as eggs, orange and green leafy vegetables.
