Yevgen Korol

Cultural Anthropology 310/ 2, 4, 2013/ 7:30 AM

Food classifications and the Diets of Young Children in Rural Egypt

Soheir Stolba

THEME: Studying the tree villages we see that mother is rural Egypt feed their toddlers “light foods” and withhold “heavy foods.” They believe that heavy foods such as protein and fiber will cause the toddlers stomach to rot because of this belief there is a high mortality and mobility rates in the rural Egypt.

Introduction:

A. The study of food classifications has served us as a helping hand in understanding how people view foods and how they consume them. B. Rural Egypt has a different view on food classifications and nutrition values. Mothers would withhold some necessary
B. Mother-in-law is the main and usually the most trusted source of information for young mothers. Older sisters-in-law and cousins also share their experiences. C. Whether a young mother would follow type A or type B feeding pattern is usually determined by the in-laws, they are usually the most trusted advisory network. D. For older toddlers food is usually picked by older siblings or the toddler himself instead of a mother picking it. Toddler will want to eat what his or her friends and siblings want to eat. E. Women share their experiences with each other at the end of the day while doing some chores like cleaning rice or cooking. At this time information about food is usually exchanged.

What foods are given to sick toddlers?

A. Withholding all food and milk when a toddler is sick is a number one thing to do by worried mothers. They do it as soon as first signs of fever show. They only give small amounts of light food so it wouldn’t shrivel-up their stomach. B. Sweet drinks like boiled mint, alfalfa, cumin or caraway are given to all sick individuals no matter what their age is. It is believed that glucose is the most needed component to support toddler’s brain development. C. If a baby cries for heavy foods mothers would give them a small amount of food without fat to chew on and would make them spit it out. D. They are usually given boiled fava beans, fresh vegetables and boiled vegetables to make it easier