Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed in the past and transmitted through time from one generation to the next. These are derived from social norms which are rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how others will interpret and respond to their words and actions if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. These are observed by not only those who are getting married but also by the other members of the family and community. Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships in a family and community. However, many of the customs have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female child but of the society as a whole.
Customs and Health
In every society, the individuals, families and communities observe many customs that have direct bearing on health. From the moment of birth of a child, customs begin to shape experiences and behaviour of the child. In reality, by the time children can think independently, the health-related customs of the family have already become an intimate part of their personalities. They do not question these customs, as they are deeply held and protected by the society. It becomes extremely difficult to change them. Let us understand this by considering what happened to Seema.
The experiences of Seema shows the negative impact of social customs on health.
Let us consider the influence of customs on the thinking and behaviour of individuals in respect of early marriage, breastfeeding practices, family size, preference for male child and substance abuse. All these affect family and community health.
Early Marriage
Although efforts have been made since long to ensure that marriages take place at proper age, the problem of early marriage and even child marriage is still continuing in many communities in India. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 stipulates legal age of marriage as 18 for girls and 21 for boys, but social customs encourage early marriage even now. You may have heard the word kanyadan. Influenced by prevailing customs, many parents consider it good to marry their daughters even before she attains puberty. The tradition of dowry is another factor for early marriage in India. It is believed that dowry will be lower if the bride is younger in age.
The early marriage custom puts pressure on young married women to prove their fertility resulting in high rates of adolescent pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy leads to greater health risks for the teenage mother and her child. Biologically, she is yet to attain reproductive maturity. There are chances of prolonged labour that can result in severe damage to the reproductive tract. The available evidence suggests that maternal deaths are considerably higher among adolescent mothers than among mature mothers. The babies born to adolescent mothers generally have low birth-weight. Such babies are more likely to die at birth or in infancy. Early pregnancy increases the risk of maternal and child morbidity and mortality. Early pregnancy also has serious psychological, social and economic consequences. It continues to affect adversely the educational, economic and social status of women and is likely to have negative impact on the quality of life of the family.
In many cases, young girls are married to older men. Such girls do not have the courage to take decisions related to family needs, lack power and are more likely to experience partner violence. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005, 2006) reveals that 27 per cent young women and 3 per cent young men in the age-group of 15-19 years were married.
Breastfeeding
We have seen above the adverse effects of social customs promoting early marriage in our society. But some customs do have positive impact, for example, consider the issue related to breastfeeding. We are aware that traditionally mothers breastfeed their infants for a year or two and sometimes even longer. This has been an accepted norm. But nowa-days, due to paucity of time and as a matter of convenience, some mothers do not breastfeed their infants. Life style concern also comes in the way of breast feeding. They choose to shift to powdered or bottled milk as a substitute for breast milk. Today an increasing number of women are working outside their homes and bottle feeding seems to be considered a more convenient option for them. Those who choose to breastfeed are looked down upon. Breastfeeding in public is also not an acceptable option.
However, there are two significant needs, which make breastfeeding important both for the mother as well as the child. One is nutritional while the other is psychological. While the nutritional benefit of breastfeeding is no doubt very important, the psychological bonding which develops between the child and the mother due to breastfeeding is unparalleled and has a positive impact on the health of both.
There are many reasons why breast milk is healthier. Breast milk contains more than hundred nutrients that cannot be prepared in the laboratory. These nutrients are essential for the healthy growth and development of the child. In fact, the caloric density, protein, carbohydrate and fat in breast milk are very important for the growth of the child. Breast milk is free from contamination by bacteria and is easier for the infant’s stomach to digest. Infants who are breastfed for at least eight months have reduced incidence of many diseases. The first secretion from the mother’s breast after the birth of the infant is known as colostrum. Scientific studies have shown that it is extremely good for the new born. But in some communities the mother is asked not to feed this fluid to the child, as they ignorantly think it to be impure. Such customs with a negative impact should be discouraged by creating awareness.
Family Size, Preference for Male Child
Another set of customs and tradition that have adverse impact on social health is related to family size. Many people believe that child birth is a gift of God and individuals should not interfere with this divine process. People also have preference for male child. Many a time parents go on giving birth to children, and the size of the family continues to grow, until a male child is born. This belief contributes to increasing number of children in the family. Some parents want to have at least two male children. The preference for male child has been the main cause of discrimination against girls. Girls are considered inferior to boys. Owing to discrimination, nutritional needs of girls are not met adequatly. All food items that are served to boys are not given to girls or are given in very less quantity. The girls are also discriminated in availing education facilities. In the process, girls are married off very early.
The discrimination against females has been a grave problem in our society. You must have read about the inverse sex ratio being a problem in our country as discused earlier. Parents get the pregnancy test done in a clinic and if they find it to be a female foetus, they get it aborted. Many girl children are killed just after their birth.
Substance Abuse
It is also known as drug abuse which has become a serious problem in our society.
It is important to note that social customs have been closely related with the drug or substance abuse related behaviour of individuals since ages. Indian society, which enjoys cultural diversity, has a history of use of plant products such as, cannabis, opium, and home brewed alcoholic beverages in celebrating festivals. There are certain social groups which are more vulnerable to substance abuse. On the contrary social customs prescribe that intoxicants should not be taken by children up to a certain age.
Developments of industrialisation, urbanisation with consequent migration have resulted in loosening of the traditional social control on an individual. Stresses and strains of modern life, the fast changing social milieu, among other factors making people vulnerable to drug abuse. Moreover, the breaking of the joint family system, with limited parental attention and care in modern families where both parents are working, peer pressure, influence of films, and fashion and values have led to a considerable rise in the consumption of drugs, specially among adolescents.
Substance abuse has a negative impact on the family and society. It increases conflicts and causes untold emotional pain for every member of the family. Most of the domestic violence is directed towards women and occurs in the context of demands for money to buy drugs. With most drug users being in the formative young age, the loss in terms of human potential is incalculable. Substance abuse is also associated with declining grades, absenteeism from school and dropping out of school. Drug abuse in adolescents has led to increase in the crime rate. Addicts resort to crime to pay for their drugs. Substance abuse can adversely affect an adolescent’s psychological and social development.
