Association of pica with anemia and gastrointestinal distress among pregnant women in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

ABSTRACT: The etiology of pica, the purposive consumption of non-food substances, is not understood, despite its ubiquity among gravidae. We examined correlates of pica in a representative obstetric population (n = 2,368) on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania to examine proposed etiologies. Cross-sectional data were collected on socioeconomic characteristics, food intake, geophagy (earth consumption), amylophagy (raw starch consumption), anthropometry, iron status, parasitic burden, and gastrointestinal morbidities. Amylophagy was reported by 36.3%, geophagy by 5.2%, and any pica by 40.1%. There was a strong additive relationship of geophagy and amylophagy with lower hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and iron deficiency anemia. By multivariate logistic regression, any pica was associated with Hb level (od

SUBMITTER: Young SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2912591 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature