A test of three hypotheses of pica and amylophagy among pregnant women in Tamil Nadu, India

Placek, Caitlyn; Hagen, Edward H.

doi:10.1002/ajhb.22456

Cited by 28 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…The 6-item short-form household-level food insecurity measure, which assesses one’s access to sufficient foods, is reliable and valid (Blumberg, Bialostosky, Hamilton, & Briefel, 1999), has been used in other studies in India (Agarwal et al, 2009; Ghosh-Jerath et al, 2013), and has been used in previous investigations of dietary shifts in pregnancy (Placek & Hagen, 2013, 2015). The 6 items were summed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Henrich & Henrich, 2010; Placek & Hagen, 2013, 2015). The Semai horticulturalists, for example, avoid unripe fruit in pregnancy because consumption is believed to cause malaria and subsequent fetal death (Dentan, 1966).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…G. Young & Pike, 2012). South Indian women have reported cravings for pica substances, including mud and chalk, that have questionable health consequences but were directly linked to resource scarcity and psychological distress (Placek & Hagen, 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Innate food aversions and culturally transmitted food taboos in pregnant women in rural southwest India: Separate systems to protect the fetus?

Placek

Madhivanan

Hagen

2017

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Pregnancy increases women’s nutritional requirements, yet causes aversions to nutritious foods. Most societies further restrict pregnant women’s diet with food taboos. Pregnancy food aversions are theorized to protect mothers and fetuses from teratogens and pathogens or increase dietary diversity in response to resource scarcity. Tests of these hypotheses have had mixed results, perhaps because many studies are in Westernized populations with reliable access to food and low exposure to pathogens. If pregnancy food aversions are adaptations, however, then they likely evolved in environments with uncertain access to food and high exposure to pathogens. Pregnancy food taboos, on the other hand, have been theorized to limit resource consumption, mark social identity, or also protect mothers and fetuses from dangerous foods. There have been few tests of evolutionary theories of culturally transmitted food taboos. We investigated these and other theories of psychophysiological food aversions and culturally transmitted food taboos among two non-Western populations of pregnant women in Mysore, India, that vary in food insecurity and exposure to infectious disease. The first was a mixed caste rural farming population (N = 72), and the second was the Jenu Kurubas, a resettled population of former hunter-gatherers (N = 30). Women rated their aversions to photos of 31 foods and completed structured interviews that assessed aversions and socially learned avoidances of foods, pathogen exposure, food insecurity, sources of culturally acquired dietary advice, and basic sociodemographic information. Aversions to spicy foods were associated with early trimester and nausea and vomiting, supporting a protective role against plant teratogens. Variation in exposure to pathogens did not explain variation in meat aversions or avoidances, however, raising some doubts about the importance of pathogen avoidance. Aversions to staple foods were common, but were not associated with resource stress, providing mixed support for the role of dietary diversification. Avoided foods outnumbered aversive foods, were believed to be abortifacients or otherwise harmful to the fetus, influenced diet throughout pregnancy, and were largely distinct from aversive foods. These results suggest that aversions target foods with cues of toxicity early in pregnancy, and taboos target suspected abortifacients throughout pregnancy.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Innate food aversions and culturally transmitted food taboos in pregnant women in rural southwest India: Separate systems to protect the fetus?

Placek

Madhivanan

Hagen

2017

Evolution and Human Behavior

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“…There are several theories to explain pica; one is hunger (3), but given that patients usually consume small quantities of non-food substances between meals, this theory is not fully supported (4). The protection theory maintains that pica is a defensive practice that protects the gastrointestinal tract from absorbing pathogens and chemical substances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The American Psychological Association believes that pica is a psychopathology that needs therapeutic interventions. Some studies show that pica is usually associated with a number of psychological disorders (4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relation between pica and iron deficiency in children in Zanjan, Islamic Republic of Iran: a case-control study

Sadeghzadeh¹,

Khoshnevisasl

Sadeghzadeh³

2017

East Mediterr Health J

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Lien entre le pica et les carences en fer chez les enfants à Zanjan, République islamique d'Iran : étude castémoinRÉSUMÉ La présente étude cas-témoin avait pour objectif de déterminer la fréquence du pica et son lien avec les carences en fer chez les enfants de Zanjan. Nous avons sélectionné 872 enfants de manière aléatoire et déterminé la fréquence du pica. Nous avons choisi des élèves en bonne santé du même âge, sexe et de la même classe que nos cas afin de servir de groupe témoin. Les cas et les témoins ont été examinés pour détecter une anémie ferriprive. Parmi les 57 élèves (6,7 %) souffrant de pica, il n'existait pas de lien significatif avec le sexe (p > 0,05). Les types les plus connus de pica étaient la géophagie (62,3 %) et l'ingestion de papier (31,2 %). La fréquence de l'anémie parmi les cas était plus élevée que chez les témoins, mais la différence n'était pas statistiquement significative. Le ratio de la capacité de fixation du fer sérique/fer total, inférieur ou égal à 0,15, ne différait pas significativement entre les deux groupes. Nous n'avons trouvé aucune association entre le pica et l'anémie et/ou les carences en fer (p > 0,05). ABSTRACT The aim of this case-control study was to determine the frequency of pica and its relationship with iron deficiency in children in Zanjan. We selected 872 children and determined the frequency of pica. We selected students who did not have pica of the same age and sex, and in the same class as our cases as a control group. Both groups were evaluated for iron deficiency anaemia. Among the 57 students (6.7%) who had pica, there was no significant relationship with sex (P > 0.05). The most common types of pica were soil (62.3%) and paper (31.2%). The frequency of anaemia among cases was greater than in controls, although the difference was not statistically significant. The serum iron/total iron binding capacity ratio ≤ 0.15 did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. We did not find any association between pica and anaemia and/or iron deficiency (P > 0.05). ‫ضابطة‬ ‫حالة‬ ‫دراسة‬ ‫اإلسالمية:‬ ‫إيران‬ ‫مجهورية‬ ‫زانجان،‬ ‫حمافظة‬ ‫يف‬ ‫األطفال‬ ‫يف‬ ‫احلديد‬ ‫ونقص‬ ‫البيكا‬ ‫بني‬ ‫العالقة‬‫املتوسط‬ ‫لرشق‬ ‫الصحية‬ ‫املجلة‬ ‫العرشون‬ ‫و‬ ‫الثالث‬ ‫املجلد‬ ‫السادس‬ ‫العدد‬ 405

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The reproductive ecology of iron in women

Miller

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Reproductive ecology focuses on the sensitivity of human reproduction to environmental variation. While reproductive ecology has historically focused on the relationship between energy status and reproductive outcomes, iron status is equally critical to women's reproductive health, given the wide-ranging detrimental effects of iron-deficiency anemia on maternal and infant well-being. This review interprets the vast literature on iron status and women's reproduction through an evolutionary framework. First, it will critique the evidence for iron deficiency caused by blood loss during menstruation, reinterpreting the available data as ecological variation in menses within and between populations of women. Second, it will highlight the scant but growing evidence that iron status is implicated in fertility, a relationship that has deep evolutionary roots. Third, this review proposes a new hypothesis for the transfer of iron from mother to infant via pregnancy and breastfeeding: reproductive iron withholding. In this hypothesis, mothers transfer iron to infants in a manner that helps infants avoid iron-mediated infection and oxidative stress, but trades off with potential risk of maternal and infant iron deficiency. Finally, this review explores two main factors that can modify the relationship between iron status and the gestation-lactation cycle: (1) the relationship between long-term reproductive effort (parity) and iron status and (2) supplementation schemes before and during pregnancy. The review concludes by suggesting continued research into iron homeostasis in women using evolutionary, ecological, and biocultural frameworks. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:S172-S195,

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A test of three hypotheses of pica and amylophagy among pregnant women in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: This research provided partial support for the protection and hunger/nutrition hypotheses for amylophagy, and also provided some evidence for the role of psychological distress and hunger or nutrition in pica.

Cited by 28 publications

References 83 publications

Innate food aversions and culturally transmitted food taboos in pregnant women in rural southwest India: Separate systems to protect the fetus?

Innate food aversions and culturally transmitted food taboos in pregnant women in rural southwest India: Separate systems to protect the fetus?

The relation between pica and iron deficiency in children in Zanjan, Islamic Republic of Iran: a case-control study

The reproductive ecology of iron in women

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