Leblouh (Arabic: البلوح, romanized: lə-blūḥ) is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five to nineteen, in countries where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable.
[1][2][3] Especially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in Tuareg[4] tradition, leblouh is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth.
The practice occurs in several African countries, such as Mauritania,[5] Niger,[6] Uganda,[7][8] Sudan,[9] Tunisia[6] (specifically Jewish people),[10] Nigeria,[11][12][13][14] Kenya and South Africa.
[17] Older women called "fatteners" force the young girls to consume enormous quantities of food and liquid,[16] inflicting pain on them if they do not eat and drink.
[16][17] A similar practice is referred to in a folktale entitled "The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter", collected in Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910).
"[18] Leblouh (often referred to using the French word gavage) in Mauritania is quite unique and involves an often months long process during which Mauritanian girls are forced to swallow gallons of milk, couscous, peanut oil, and cups of pure animal fat.
[20] Sources state that the most common reason for families investing in Leblouh for their young daughter is to ensure her financial security and good marriage prospects.
[19] The increasing levels of impoverishment in some areas of the country have also led some women and girls to discover that antihistamines, traditionally used to treat hay fever, have appetite inducing qualities.
[25] In this nomadic society, obesity was seen as a sign of beauty in women and the wives of rich men would often not work and sit in tents while black slaves did the hard labor that the desert required.
[27] After just two years of democracy and a period of serious institutional crisis with several changes to government and the presentation of a motion of censorship by a group of deputies, General Ould Abdel Aziz seized power by force after a new political coup in 2008.
Attitudes in Mauritania do seem to be changing however with global influences, such as Western fashions, Nigerian pop music, and French TV altering the perceptions of body size and women's beauty.
The idea that traditional fattening customs have now morphed into cases where young women routinely ingest dangerous animal growth hormones and steroids has caught the attention of organizations such as Equality Now.