The association between pica during pregnancy and household food security status

Pica is an eating disorder characterized by persistent ingestion of non-nutrition substances including: soil or clay (Geophagia), corn or laundry starch (Amylophagia) and ice or freezer frost (Pagophagia). Ingestion of some non-food substances during pregnancy may lead to serious implications for mother and fetus health. Therefore, this study was performed with aim to investigate the association between pica during pregnancy and household food security.
This cross-sectional study was performed on 300 women who had delivered and referred to the health centers in the west of Tehran in 2014. The subjects were selected by stratified sampling method and the number of samples for each center was determined according to the referees. In addition to the checklist of demographic characteristics and pica data, the USDA questionnaire was also used. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 16) and descriptive and analytic analyses of Chi-square, T- test and logistic regression. P
The prevalence of pica in this study was 8.33% and there was no significant association between pica during pregnancy and household food security status. Also, no association was found between pica during pregnancy and paternal and maternal employment status and regular iron and folic acid supplementation before pregnancy. But, there was significant association between pica and regular iron supplementation during pregnancy (P=0.001) and educational status of mothers (P=0.011).
In this study, no significant association was observed between pica during pregnancy and household food security; performing more studies are recommended.