While harmful traditional practices such as female circumcision and breast ironing have become the focus of international campaigns for their abolition, another traditional practice is only beginning to attract attention.
In the African country of Mauritania, one of the oldest standards of female beauty has been that of obesity. Since slim women are considered to have a poorer chance of marriage, the practice of leblouh remains common. Girls (often as young as five) are force-fed by older women (known as "fatteners") with a large daily diet of camel's milk, millet, and even their own vomit to gain weight.Most common in rural areas and arising out of the country's strong Berber traditions, leblouh has become more prevalent since Mauritania's military coup in 2008.
Although local activists are attempting to end the practice, they are being opposed by conservative elements including the fatteners themselves and rural women who consider leblouh as being the only way to ensure that their daughters become wives. A 2007 survey determined that 70% of Mauritianian women over the age of 40 regard leblouh as being necessary for marriage. The same survey found that only 10% of girls living in cities are force-fed as opposed to 80% of girls in rural areas. The practice is expected to fade with better education concerning the dangers of forced feedings but progress remains slow.
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