Abstract
Background: Pica, the craving and purposeful consumption of nonfoods, is poorly understood. We described the prevalence of pica among women on Mfangano Island, Kenya, and examined sociodemographic and health correlates. Methods: Our cross-sectional study included 299 pregnant or postpartum women in 2012. We used a 24-h recall to assess pica, defined as consumption of earth (geophagy), charcoal/ash, or raw starches (amylophagy) and built multivariable logistic regression models to examine sociodemographic and health correlates of pica. Results: Eighty-one women (27.1%) engaged in pica in the previous 24 h, with 59.3% reporting amylophagy and 56.8% reporting geophagy, charcoal, and/or ash consumption. The most common substances consumed were raw cassava (n = 30, 36.6%), odowa, a chalky, soft rock-like earth (n = 21, 25.6%), and soil (n = 17, 20.7%). Geophagy, charcoal, and/or ash consumption was negatively associated with breastfeeding (OR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.18–0.81), and amylophagy was associated with pregnancy (OR = 4.31, 95% CI: 1.24–14.96). Pica was more common within one of six study regions (OR = 3.64, 95% CI: 1.39–9.51). We found no evidence of an association between food insecurity and pica. Conclusion: Pica was a common behavior among women, and the prevalence underscores the need to uncover its dietary, environmental, and cultural etiologies.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 2510 |
Journal | International journal of environmental research and public health |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 14 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This study was supported by an Institute for International Studies Fellowship (E.O.C.), and N.S.F. Graduate Research Fellowship Program, N.S.F. Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award and Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (K.J.F.), and partial support from NSF-GEO grant CNH115057 (J.S.B.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Amylophagy
- Breastfeeding
- Geophagy
- Kenya
- Pica
- Pregnancy