Pica is a type of eating disorder and at the same time a mental disorder that is characterized by consumption and ingestion of non-food and non-nutritive items like clay, dirt, sand, paper, glue, buttons, toothpaste, soap, chalk and many others. Some people may see sufferers as just “freaky eaters”, but this condition is very dangerous especially among small children because the things that they eat are not edible and certain ingredients like lead is very poisonous and can damage the stomach linings and may even kill.
The most commonly affected by pica eating disorder are children as young as two years. At this stage the behavior is not really diagnosed as pica eating disorder because children typically put things in their mouths as part of their growing stage. Pica among pregnant women is also common and the condition is overcome by the time of the childbirth, but some carry on the pica eating disorder even after giving birth. Persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities are also likely to develop pica eating disorder.
For medical experts to diagnose pica eating disorder in sufferers, the condition must be prevalent for at least one month. But in some countries and societies, such practice is not considered pica eating disorder but rather a part of their culture and tradition. This practice of eating and ingesting non-food items is prevalent in Africa and some parts of the United States. When pica eating disorder is observed in children two years and below, it is not seen as a disorder but rather a common stage among children that age. But for people whose pica is inappropriate for their age group, it is considered pica eating disorder.
The term pica originated from the Latin word magpie, the name of a bird known for its insatiable appetite. The bird is known for eating and ingesting anything that it sees, thus pica eating disorder is named after it.
Women and children are more prone to suffer from pica eating disorder than men. For people who do not have a developmental disorder, pica eating disorder may stem from other factors such as depression and other mental and developmental issues. Some people cannot cope with issues relating to their emotions and mental capacity which results to pica eating disorder. If pica eating disorder is related to other mental disorders like mental retardation, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, the pica should be so severe and persistent for an expert to recommend medical attention to the patient. Pica eating disorder is also diagnosed as a secondary condition when associated to other mental disorders and other development issues.
The causes of pica eating disorder are unknown, but there are several factors that may attribute to it. One is dieting habits. When a person goes on a diet and feels that she is not losing any weight despite her efforts, she may result in eating non-food items to satisfy her hunger and at the same time to lose those unwanted pounds. Another is mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. People with these mental disorders tend to eat things that they see around and outside the house and later on develop into pica eating disorder. Children older than two years old develop pica eating disorder either because of poverty or parental neglect. In some countries where poverty is prevalent, children and adults alike eat dirt and clay just to have something in their stomachs, even if they are not food and do not give the body nutrients. Some parents neglect their kids because of too much work and other things and these kids resort to eating non-food items to ask for attention from their parents or to make them feel good about themselves, even if they are neglected. For pregnant women, pica eating disorder is most common for those who have developed pica during childhood, prior to the pregnancy or if the pregnant women has a family history of pica eating disorder. Nutritional deficiency is another thing. If a person is deficient in nutrients like iron, he eats non-food items to compensate for the deficiency but they do not really provide iron to the body. When not given attention, it develops into pica eating disorder. Retardation causes the person to eat anything he sees and not recognize them as non-food items.
The people you see on TV who claim that they only eat certain non-food items for their diet and nothing else have pica eating disorder. There was a woman who was shown on TV who only eats sand said that she did not experience any discomfort or pain from eating such in so many years. She said she developed the habit of eating sand for breakfast, lunch and dinner when she was still a child and since then has not stopped eating sand. Her parents did not seem alarmed by their child’s eating behavior so they let her be. Not all people who have pica eating disorder are like this woman who did not develop any health complications from eating non-food items.
Health complications are more common in children as their digestive systems are still very fragile. When they eat paint chips, lead poisoning can occur. Paint has a high lead content. Other non-food items also contain harmful chemicals that may not only poison but also result in other very serious health conditions like intestinal obstruction.
Behavioral therapy is one of the treatment options that can be done to treat pica eating disorder. When a sufferer has a mental disorder like schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, therapy is the best course for treatment. Although it cannot remove the non-food items already ingested, behavioral therapy helps the sufferer get rid of pica eating disorder by treating the issues that cause the eating disorder in the first place. The department of pediatrics can be consulted for the best treatment of pica eating disorder in children.
When you know of someone – an adult or a child who develops the syndrome or already has pica eating disorder, intervention is very important. Convince the person to seek treatment and help from medical experts so that the pica eating disorder can be treated and gotten rid of before any health complications from eating non-nutritive and non-food items arise. When pica eating disorder is not at once given proper medical attention, the substances ingested may pose danger to the person that can lead to death. For people with developmental disabilities, developmental delays and mental retardation, attention and focus are very crucial. An attendant must be present all the time to restrict mentally retarded adults and children from eating and ingesting harmful substances. Since they cannot function normally because of their abnormalities, it is up to their parents and relatives to take care of them and make sure that they do not put anything other than food into their mouths.
