A pregnancy craving that can kill

Pregnant women often eat soil as it soothes the morning sickness.

The craving results from low iron levels in the body or anaemia, and is a condition that can be treated.

While eating soil is commonly viewed as a harmless practice, doctors warn that women who do this risked ingesting material that could be harmful.

Doctors say many women develop iron deficiencies during pregnancy and start eating soil as a result. They could, however, develop a worm infestation or other parasitic and bacterial infections by eating dirt.

Women who eat soil should tell their doctors about their cravings, so a proper check can be done to ascertain the cause. Supplements such as iron, magnesium or zinc tablets can then be prescribed. Women with soil cravings can eat a lot of spinach, beetroot and liver because these foods have a high iron content.

Soil is a foreign material carrying a lot of dirt and harmful agents such as worms, animal faeces and fungi. The appetite for eating soil usually ends up reaching the level of addiction. Some women cannot just go about their day without landing their hands on a daily fix, a packet of soil. It is worrying.

According to two researchers from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, UK, the tradition of soil consumption is still very much alive in the African tropics, India, African American communities in America, Jamaica and it has also been reported in Saudi Arabia. Despite the advent of modern religions and the end of the slave trade, soil eating is not uncommon, though mostly confined to the poorer sections of society. — @andile_tshuma