![]() This compulsive dietary aberration, observed in many pregnant patients worldwide, is common among rural African American women in the southern United States. Pica is therefore highly prevalent in pregnant women in Kumasi, with pagophagia and geophagia being the predominant types of pica.Īmylophagia, or the practice of consuming purified starch, is a particular expression of the more general phenomenon of pica. Also, 17.4% of the respondents identified a family member practising pica. ![]() Age and level of education did not significantly affect the practice of pica (P = 0.053 and P = 0.142 respectively). Among the rural dwellers, 47.7% of the pregnant women practised pica during their pregnancies while 46.4% of the urban pregnant women engaged in the practice. Pagophagia accounted for 41.0%, followed by geophagia (29.8%), amylophagia (7.4%), plumbophagia (6.4%), and trichophagia (3.7%). The results showed 47.0% of the pregnant women practising pica. A random sample of pregnant women (n = 400) in rural and urban areas of Kumasi were interviewed using a questionnaire-based survey in 2008 and repeated in 2009. This study therefore sought to determine the prevalence of pica and its various forms among pregnant women in Kumasi, Ghana, and the effects of education and place of residence (rural and urban) on pica practice. Despite this, pica is less studied in many African communities where it is believed to be highly prevalent. Pica, an eating disorder in which non-nutritional objects are frequently eaten, has negative health implications.
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