The prevalence and practices of geophagia in Mkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

A mixed research method was used to investigate the prevalence of geophagia and to determine the practices of geophagia and the perceptions of the soil consumers in Mkhanyakude District. A survey of 94 literate women between the age 14-65years was conducted with key informant interviews and soil analysis complementing each other. Only 3% of the participants were pregnant during the interviews and about 83% of the participants consumed between 57-884g of soil more than once per day. Of the 94 participants, a startling 39% were geophagia for more than 10 years. As opposed to other studies, 97% none- pregnant women who participated in this study confessed to be geophagias and proclaimed to be addicted. More so about 60.9% (women) family members of these participants were consumers of soil. Soil consumption was enjoyed for taste & smell. Moreover, it was perceived to be good for pregnant women to satisfy cravings. Conversely, it was negatively perceived as an addiction that posed adverse effects on human health. The addiction condition requires an urgent health education intervention. Furthermore, there is a need to train the community about the safe and healthy ways of processing the soil to reduce risks of microbial infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]