Trends and consequences of consumption of food and non-food items (pica) by pregnant women in Western Kenya

Pregnancy is a memorable experience for every woman and it comes with many changes which include cravings for food and non-food items. The aim of this study was to explore the change in diet in terms of pica, food craving and aversions which occur during pregnancy. Two hundred and two pregnant women were interviewed. Food craving was reported by 73.8% of the study participants and nearly half (48.7%) had food aversions. Foods craved most were maize meal (12.5%), mangoes (9.5%), ripe banana (8.3%), beef (7.6%) and fish (5.7%). Foods avoided most were small fish (omena) (15.2%), beef (12.6%), kale (11.9%) and fish in general (10.6%). Eggs, tea and milk were also avoided. Reasons given for avoiding certain foods were: to prevent nausea (45.8%), vomiting (21.9%) and heartburn (10.4%). Other reasons given were unpleasant smell/taste and stomach ache. Pica prevalence was at 27.4%, with consumption of soil and soft stones being frequently reported. There was a highly significant association between level of education (p = 0.02) and history of child death/still birth (p = 0.01) with pica. Food cravings, aversions and pica practices should be assessed in antenatal care of pregnant women. Attention should be paid to pregnant women who have had a history of child death and women with low education level.