This document discusses the role of cultural factors in health and disease. It outlines 6 key areas where culture impacts health: concepts of disease etiology and cure, environmental sanitation, food habits, mother and child health, personal hygiene, and sex and marriage. Across these domains, certain cultural customs and beliefs can promote the spread of disease by preventing proper treatment or sanitation practices, and can influence health behaviors around nutrition, hygiene, and family planning. Overcoming cultural barriers is important for implementing effective national health programs.

1. ROLE OF
CULTURAL
FACTORS IN
HEALTH & DISEASE
SRAVANI KOMMURU
RIMS

2. OBJECTIVES..
• To study the role of cultural factors in :
• 1. concept of etiology & cure of disease
• 2. environmental sanitation
• 3.food habits
• 4.mother & child health
• 5. personal hygiene
• 6. sex and marriage

3. Culture…
• Culture means – learned behaviour which is
socially acquired.
• It is transmitted from one
generation to other.
Every culture has its own
Customs and beliefs.

4. 1.CONCEPT OF ETIOLOGY AND CURE
• Supernatural causes :
• Wrath of gods-CHICKEN POX
• Evil eye
• Past sins-leprosy , T.B
• Ghost & spirit intrusion-EPILEPSY
• Breach of taboo-VENERAL DISEASES
• Physical causes :
• Effect of weather
• Water
• Impure blood

5. OUTCOME…
• Cases are not notified.
• Proper treatment is not given
to victims.
• Services of exorcist are sought.

6. 2.ENVIRONMENT AND SANITATION
Open air defecation Improper waste disposal

7. Water supply Housing

8. Outcome…
• 1. infectious faeces pollutes water and soil
causing diseases
• 2. improper disposal of wastes promotes fly
breeding
• 3. epidemics of cholera and gastroenteritis
due to unsafe drinking water
• 4. ill ventilated houses cause spread of
communicable diseases to family members

9. 3.FOOD HABITS
• Strict vegetarianism
• Shunning of beef & pork
• concept of hot foods/cold
foods
• Shunning foods by
pregnant women
Eg : papaya

10. 4.MOTHER AND CHILD HEALTH
• ANTENATAL PRACTICES
• Food fads
• hot/cold foods
• Low calorie foods
• Oil bath
• Untrained dais
• POSTNATAL PRACTICES
• Discarding colostrum
• Oil bath

11. • NEW BORN :
• Applying cow dung on
umbilical cord
• Kajal to eyes
• Black spot to ward off evil
spirit
• Puncturing ear and nose
• Application of oil / turmeric on
anterior fontanelle

12. 5.PERSONAL HYGIENE
• Oral hygiene-use of ash , coal, neem
• Bathing-oilbath,turmeric bath
• Shaving- local barbers
• Smoking-beedi , chutta
• Purdah –TB, rickets
• Sleep-open space- insect bite
• Walking on barefoot-hookworm
• Cirumcision-low incidence of HPV infection

13. Hygiene..
Smoking – TB, oral cancer
Purdah- vitamin-d deficiency, TB

14. 6.SEX AND MARRIAGE
• Menstruation – time of
uncleanness
• No prayer / no intercourse
• Early marriage
• Men-24 yrs, women- 21 yrs

15. OUTCOME..
• Monogamy- universal form of
marriage
• NO intercourse during
menstruation –
Important for family planning
• Univesality of marriage – less
number of unmarried mothers
and illegitimate children

16. TO SUMMARISE….
• Costums & beliefs of individual communities
have a profound influence on the incidence of
a disease
• They stand in the way of implementation of
national health programmes.

17. THANK YOU …