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Pica in pregnancy in a privileged population: myth or reality
Tina Broby Mikkelsen1, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Sjurdur Frodi Olsen
1Maternal Nutrition Group, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, Copenhagen S, DK-2300, Denmark. tbs@ssi.dk
Background:
In the literature pica is reported to be prevalent in pregnant women. Most studies have focused on less privileged populations, but is pica prevalent among privileged pregnant women?
Methods:
100,000 pregnant women in the Danish National Birth Cohort were asked about pica in a food frequency questionnaire mailed in gestation week 25.
Results:
The response rate of the questionnaire was 70% of Danish National Birth Cohort participants. Only 14 women reported to have eaten substances that were clearly not foods, i.e. 0.02% had pica in this cohort of well nourished Danish women.
Conclusion:
It seems that, in privileged populations, pica is more a myth than a reality.
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