What Are Some of the Problems Associated with Pica?

Discussion Oral behaviors are normal activities for infants and older children including exploration of toys and other environmental items by the mouth and thumb sucking. They could also be potentially more problematic such as nail biting, gum chewing or even tobacco smoking/chewing. Pica is a disorder of ingestion of non-food items that is unusual in the type of item or the quantity. What is defined as food widely varies by region and ethnicity. The term pica is the medieval Latin name for the magpie bird which is known to eat food and non-food items. Many different animal species practice pica including several primate species. Pagophagia is a type of pica where one consumes an excessive amount of ice, snow or iced drinks. Geophagia is the more commonly thought of type of pica where one consumes earth including clay. People ingest some dirt during the day (i.e. inadvertent exposure) through inhaled dust, dirty hands and contaminated food and water. Young children, especially those under age 4, intentionally eat dirt and other non-food items in larger quantities and more often that older children and adults. It is more common in boys than girls. It is also more common in patients that are disabled. For those disabled patients that are institutionalized it can be a self-injurious behavior that can be disastrous with a death rate of up to 11% in some studies. Geophagia is also more common with economic hardships which results in poverty, hunger and starvation. Geophagia is c...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news