Abstract

Some pregnant women crave for non-food items with no nutritional value such as dirt, clay, paint chips, chalk, ice, etc. This is called pica. Most frequently, pica occurs in children, persons with mental retardation and women during their pregnancies or while they are breast-feeding. Pica is considered to be a serious eating disorder, sometimes resulting in serious health problems such as lead poisoning, bowel blockage and iron deficiency anemia. The prevalence of pica was studied in 560 pregnant women who were referred to the health centers in Zahedan. The prevalence of pica among pregnant women was 15.5%, in which 25.3% of them ate dirt, 60.9% ice, and others substances such as chalk, rosary praying clay, freezer frost, tea stuff and other non-food substances.  Pica is not limited to any culture, race, sex or socio economic background. It can result in dangerous and serious health problems. Therefore, there is the need to raise public awareness of the adverse effects of this practice.

Key words: Pica, prevalence, pregnancy, women, non-food substances