疾病時における行動の社会的・文化的側面 --食生活とらい--

Abstract

In India, religion exerts a profound influence over all aspects and details in life of both Hindus and Muslims, and there are many religious regulations in their lives respectively. Difference in the influence of these two religions on their followers could be observed distinctly in the diet. This study is focused on the change of both Hindus and Muslims in their food style before and after the onset of the disease. The subjects of this study were 529 Hindus and 171 Muslims randomly selected from the leprosy patients who have visited the Leprosy Patients Welfare Society Old Mahapalika Building in the suburb of Agra City, U.P. State, India during 6 weeks from July to August in 1984 and 1985. They were directly interviewed concerning the place of their residence, disease and hygienic practices. Of the 426 Hindu males, 251 were vegetarians at the time of the interview, of whom 74 had converted to the vegetarianism after the onset of disease. Number of the converted patients are appropriately 17.4% of the male Hindus and 29.5% of the Hindu vegetarians. In females, the corresponding values were 13.6% and 21.2% respectively. Of the 137 male Muslims, only 5.8% were originally vegetarians, and 10.2% converted to the vegetarianism after the onset which is estimately 63.6% of the vegetarians. None of the 34 female Muslims were originally vegetarians, and 6(l7.6%) converted to the vegetarianism after the onset of the disease. Particularly in Hindus many patients with leprosy converted from a non-vegetarian to a vegetarian diet after the onset of the disease. These observations indicated the concept of disease among the Indian population and the deeprooted influence of the ancient Indian medicine such as that described in Ayuru-Veda.