Leblouh

What it is

Leblouh is the practice of making girls eat and drink far beyond what they want. Girls can be as young as five and go up to nineteen. Older women, called fatteners, supervise the process. In Mauritania it is often called by the French word gavage. The aim is a heavier body, which families have traditionally linked with beauty and with a woman's value as a wife. Mothers who take part say that they see no other way to secure a safe future for their daughters. The sources are clear that the girls are made to swallow food and liquid under pain, so it cannot be called a free choice.

How it is done

According to the sources, a girl may be given about twenty litres of milk a day, along with grain porridge, oil and animal fat. If she refuses, she may be hurt: her toes are crushed between sticks, her skin is pinched, or she is hit. The process in Mauritania lasts months. Reports also describe the use of pills, including farm steroids and allergy tablets that raise appetite, which have spread as droughts made livestock and grain scarcer. These products are dangerous too, but cheaper and easier to obtain than the traditional foods.

Where and why

The practice is described as strongest in poorer rural regions of Mauritania, along the Saharan interior and the Senegal River, and in coastal towns. Families there hope a heavier daughter will attract a wealthy husband, yet the sources note that fattened women do not appear to be richer than others. Its roots are traced to nomadic life, where plumpness marked the wives of wealthy men, and to Tuareg tradition. Some historians call it centuries old, and one account dates it to the 11th century. A related fattening house is mentioned in a folktale from southern Nigeria, where girls were fattened for weeks before marriage.

Harm and change

Leblouh has been linked to heart disease, reduced movement, earlier sex and earlier pregnancy, and possible risks in childbirth. The sources say it fell and then rose again in Mauritania: government figures before 2008 gave 50 to 60 percent of rural women and 20 to 30 percent of urban women, while force-feeders later estimated about 80 percent nationwide. Younger Mauritanians view it negatively, and foreign fashion, music and television are shifting ideas about the ideal body. Rights groups such as Equality Now have taken an interest, alarmed by the use of steroids.

How Leblouh is kept

Older women known as fatteners take charge of a girl, usually from childhood, with her mother's agreement. Over months she is made to consume very large amounts of milk, grain and fat each day. Refusal is met with pain, such as squeezing the toes between sticks or pinching. The aim is a body regarded as ready for marriage. In recent years, pills have sometimes replaced food. Nothing here describes a ceremony as such: the sources treat it as a long preparation, not a single rite.

When and where

It takes place in girlhood, over months, ahead of a hoped-for marriage. The sources give no set date or season. In Mauritania, one source reports that girls are fattened from around six or seven years old, and the wider practice covers ages from five to nineteen.

Mauritania has the most detailed account, especially its rural Saharan and Senegal River regions and coastal towns. The sources also name Niger, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, and say it was once widespread across much of the Arab world.

What Leblouh means

For the families who keep it, a heavy body once stood for wealth, since a rich man's wife did not need to work. Fattening a daughter is meant to show care for her future and to make her desirable to a wealthy husband. The sources question this: they find no sign that fattened women gain more wealth, and they describe the means used as abusive.

Who takes part

• The girl: is made to eat and drink large amounts, often under threat of pain
• The fatteners: older women who oversee the feeding and enforce it
• The mother: arranges the process, hoping to secure her daughter's future
• A possible suitor: is the wealthy husband the family hopes to attract

Then and now

Younger Mauritanians view the practice negatively, and outside influences are changing ideas of beauty. Yet the sources report that it returned strongly after the 2008 coup, and that poverty and drought have pushed some families toward steroids and appetite pills.

On the wedding table

• Camel's milk: forced in large daily quantities on young girls
• Pounded millet with butter: a typical daily portion for a child, according to the sources
• Couscous and peanut oil: given in Mauritania, with animal fat

Questions people ask about Leblouh

See also

SvayamvaraThe ancient Hindu ceremony where a princess picks her husband from assembled suitors

Good reading and sources

• Girls being force-fed for marriage as fattening farms revivedThe Guardian, Article
• Slim in Sudan: Female fleshiness loses its allureBBC, Article
• Girls being force-fed for marriage as fattening farms revivedThe Guardian, Article
• Slim in Sudan: Female fleshiness loses its allureBBC, Article

• Leblouh on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Wedding customs differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.