Lecture - 1 - Culture and Health PDF

Culture and Health
PBH 601
Social
Cultural Anthropology Physical
Medical
Custom
A traditional practice or usual way of doing something followed by
a social group or people.
i. Folkways : informal rules and norms that, while not offensive
to violate, are expected to be followed
ii. Mores : informal rules that are not written, but, when violated,
result in severe punishments and social sanction upon the
individuals, such as social and religious exclusions
What is Culture
• Learned behavior which has been socially acquired
• Product of human societies, and man is largely a product of his
cultural environment
• Lays down norms of behavior and provides mechanisms which
secure an individual in his personal and social survival
• Culture stands for the customs, beliefs, laws, religion and moral
percept, arts & other capabilities, skills acquired by man as a
member of society
What is Culture Continue…
❑Every culture has its own customs, which influences diseases.
Eg. lung carcinoma & liver cirrhosis in west due to smoking &
alcohol intake and oral Ca in India due to tobacco intake
❑Involved in matters of personal hygiene, nutrition,
immunization, seeking early medical care, family planning -in
short, the whole way of life
❑Not all customs and beliefs are bad. Some are based on
centuries of trial and error and have positive values, while
others may be useless or positively harmful
Impact of Cultural Factors on
Health
1. Concept of etiology and cure
2. Environmental Sanitation
3. Food Habits
4. Maternal and child health
5. Personal hygiene
6. Marriage & sexuality
Disease Etiology and Cure
2 groups – (a) supernatural (b) physical.
A. SUPERNATURAL CAUSES
1. Wrath of god: E.g. Smallpox and chickenpox.
Administration of drug is considered harmful.
Cases are not notified, and pujas are made to please the gods.
2. Breach of taboo : Venereal diseases are believed by some to
be due to illicit sexual intercourse with a woman of low caste,
or a woman during menstruation
3. Past sins: Leprosy and tuberculosis.
4. Evil eye: Children are considered to be most prone to the
effect of evil eyes. Charms and amulets are prescribed, and
incantations recited by the exorcist
5. Spirit or ghost intrusion: Hysteria and epilepsy are regarded
due to spirit or ghost intrusion into the body. The services of
an exorcist are sought to drive away the evil spirit or ghost.
Physical Causes
I. Effects of Weather : For heat stroke, application of oil and
ghee on the soles of feet and administration of mango-phool
with a pinch of salt
II. Water : Impure water is associated with disease
III. Impure blood : Skin diseases (scabies, acne, boil) are
considered to be due to impure blood
Eating neem leaves and flowers is considered to purify blood.
Environmental Sanitation
DISPOSAL OF HUMAN EXCRETA
❑Open field defecation.
❑No idea of latrines among villagers.
❑Latrines are meant for city dwellers, where there are no fields
for defecation.
❑Faeces are infectious, pollutes water and soil and promotes fly
breeding.
❑Problem of excreta disposal is bound up with numerous beliefs
and habits based on ignorance
B. DISPOSAL OF WASTES
• Not aware that mosquitoes breed in collections of wastewater.
• The solid waste is invariably thrown in front of the houses where
it is permitted to accumulate and decompose. Periodically it is
removed to the fields and used as fertilizer
• The animal dung (cow dung) is allowed to accumulate. It is
used sometimes as manure and often times pressed into cakes,
sun-dried and used as fuel
C. WATER SUPPLY
• Ponds & Tanks → Common use for washing, bathing, drinking
• Some rivers are considered "holy“
• Epidemics of cholera, gastroenteritis have occurred due to
these cultural practices
D. HOUSING
❑Rural houses are same all over the country
❑Usually kuccha and damp, ill-lighted and ill-ventilated
❑For reasons of security, no windows are provided, and if at all
one is provided, it is merely a small hole
❑Absence of a separate kitchen, latrine, bathroom and drainage
are characteristic features of an average rural house
❑ Animal keeping is very common in villages. Infrequently,
human beings and animals live under one roof
Food Habits
❑Influenced by local conditions (e.g. soil, climate), religious
customs and beliefs
❑Vegetarianism is given a place of honour in Hindu society.
Food taboos: beef, pork
❑Foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and jaggery are considered to
generate heat in the body;
❑Foods such as curd, milk, vegetables and lemon are
considered to cool the body
❑Adulteration of milk is a common practice
Food Habits
• Fasting
• Alcoholic drinks are tabooed by Muslims and high caste Hindus.
• Ganja, bhang and charas are frequently consumed by sadhus;
these habits are now spreading into the general population,
especially the younger generation
• Eating and drinking from common utensils is considered as a
sign of brotherhood among Muslims
• In some societies, men eat first and women last and poorly
• Some people do not eat unless they have taken a bath
Maternal and Child Health
Marriage is universal in Indian society

Family is incomplete without a male child!
Good:
Prolonged breastfeeding
Oil bath, massage and exposure to sun.
Bad:
Some foods (e.g., eggs, meat, fish , milk, leafy vegetables) are forbidden
during pregnancy in some parts
Deliveries are conducted by the traditional untrained dai or birth attendant
No breast feed during the first 3 days of birth because of the belief that
colostrum might be harmful; instead the child is put on water, and sugar
solution
Personal hygiene
(1) Oral Hygiene:
• Many people use twigs of neem tree; ashes; charcoal.
• Eating pan leaves with lime with or without tobacco
(2) Bathing:
• Bathing naked is a taboo.
• Villagers: no use of soap, use of common cloth to wipe body → cross
infection
• Women after menstruation must have a purifying bath
• After childbirth, there may be 2-3 ceremonial baths, the time for which
is fixed upon the advice of the priest
(3) Shaving: Done by the traditional barber (nai).
No sterilization of the instruments used;
No idea of micro-organisms
(4) Smoking:
Can spread tuberculosis
Burning end of the cigar in mouth- common custom among villagers in
Andhra Pradesh, is associated with oral cancer
Among patients with peptic ulcer, smokers have a higher death rate
A mother's smoking during pregnancy may retard the growth of the
foetus.
Marriage & sexuality
❑In South-Asia mean age of marriage for boys- 24yr & for girls-
19yr
❑Monogamy is the most universal form of marriage
❑Polygamy (marriage of one man with several woman) prevails
in certain communities
❑Polyandry (marriage of several men with one woman) is found
among the Todas of Nilgiri hills, the inhabitants of Jaunsar
Bawar in Uttar Pradesh and the Nayars in Malabar coast
Cultural factors are highly involved in matters of personal
hygiene, nutrition, immunization, seeking early medical care,
family planning, disposal of refuse, excreta etc.
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Culture and Health

Cultural Anthropology Physical

Marriage is universal in Indian society

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