Movement of earth and rock by pregnant women

Some pregnant women in Kenya eat coal, soap and cucumber, but many people crave soft stones called " odawa ". On average, pregnant women in Nairobi city - the capital of Kenya - eat 4 tons of soft ice.

" It seems there is something in my body that urges me to chew odawa. Although I know it is crazy behavior, I can't resist it. Many times I wake up in the middle of the night to find stones. When I go to the doctor, I The doctor said that my body was iron deficient, but after taking iron supplements, I still craved stones, "said Nancy Akoth, a woman who was 4 months pregnant.

Akoth is just one of hundreds of women who like to eat odawa in Nairobi. They can buy this soft rock at Gikomba market - where people used to sell only fish and old goods. Today the number of people selling odawa in the market increases year by year. Setephen Ndirangu, a soft stone merchant, said most of his customers are women.

A shop selling odawa in Gikomba market in Nairobi city.(Photo: BBC)

" People buy my odawa to sell to pregnant women. Each 90 kg bag of rock sells for 6 USD ," he said.

Although it was a form of stone, odawa was not hard enough to break the teeth of pregnant women. Alice Ndong, a dietitian, insists that odawa has no taste. " The stones are as light as raw flour. However, because of their abrasive properties, they can clean their teeth when people chew ," she said.

Ndong warned that odawa's eating habits could lead to many disastrous consequences. If ice-eaters do not drink enough water, they will experience severe constipation, liver and kidney damage. The digestive system also has difficulty in handling this bizarre " food " form.

Kenyan University scientists interviewed 1,071 pregnant women at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi. At least 800 people admitted they used to eat soil, stone, soap and many things were not normal food during the pregnancy period .

The habit of eating ice still followed many women when their children grew up. Sylvia has stopped giving birth 14 years ago, but she still can't resist odawa's temptation.

" I can't do anything without soft rock. If I don't eat it, I feel tired and hungry. I want to give up that crazy habit, but I can't ," she said.

Experts believe that people crave for soil and stone when the body lacks minerals such as calcium. However, the unfortunate thing is that odawa doesn't have much calcium. Many studies show that ice-eating behavior can cause harmful health consequences, such as parasitic infections, anemia, intestinal complications.