Geophagy in India: a qualitative exploratory study on motivation and perception of female consumers.

Background: Geophagy, the consumption of soil, is well documented in Africa and other continents, but is rarely investigated in Asia and even less so in India. The main aim of this exploratory qualitative study was therefore to understand the motivation for clay consumption, the social perception of the habit, the mode and quantity of consumption, as well as subjectively perceived effects of clay consumption in Himachal Pradesh, North India.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 female geophagists aged 18-80 years.