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Food Classifications and the Diets of Young Children in Rural Egypt

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

E. Egyptians usually cook “Taxdi’a” that is vegetables in butter fat, garlic, onions, and tomato. Women agree that this type of food is very “heavy” for toddlers.

What are the Classifications of Toddler’s Food?

A. Foods are viewed as animated objects and instead of people liking or disliking foods, food itself chooses who to like and who not to like. If after eating there are no problems then food likes you, but if some type of problem develops food doesn’t like you. Therefore “heavy” are seen as disliking the very young. B. When type A mothers breastfeed their children until the child is more than one year old, type B mothers would introduce hard foods little by little from age of 5 month believing that it is not harmful to baby’s life. C. Mixing a spoon of “Taxdi’a” with large amount of rice makes it a “light” food. Also you would often see grandmothers dipping a finger in stew and giving toddler a try to train their stomachs for “heavy” foods. D. It is believed that chewing on raw vegetables is good for toddlers because it helps them develop stronger gums and teeth and makes their tender stomachs harder so they could handle “heavier” foods. E. About the age of 14-15 month mothers start introducing their kids to “heavy foods and meat. First by giving them young chicken because it is viewed as “not as heavy” and then by giving them “heavier” foods.

How do people learn about food classifications?

A. Usually older

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