![]() Furthermore, in some parts of the world, the consumption of such products and items may be culturally significant and acceptable. This is important as younger children often tend to eat substances with no nutritional value out of curiosity. To diagnose this condition, the sufferer should be at least 2 years of age and must engage in eating non-nutritive items or raw food ingredients for at least a period of one month. According to a recent 2020 scientific review 5, pica may occur “as an isolated disorder but there are instances when it may coexist with schizophrenia, OCD, and trichotillomania.” As for the mental disorder, a person with this condition may eat variable items from earth (geophagy), ice (pagophagia), raw starches (amylophagy), to charcoal, baby powder, eggshells and coffee grounds. Magpies 4 tend to incessantly collect and eat almost everything and can even ingest certain objects simply out of curiosity. The word Pica is derived from the Latin term “pica-pica,” referring to the magpie bird. This may be related to any deficiency present in the body. Studies 3 reveal that around 27.8% of women experience pica during pregnancy. Pregnant women are also known to have cravings for non-food items. The disorder can even occur in children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities like autism. One German prevalence study 2 revealed that 12.3% of primary school children exhibit symptoms of pica at some point in their lives. However, there may be a problem if a youngster has progressed above his or her developmental stage and suddenly begins to consume non-food substances. They usually consume non-food items for the sole reason of being hungry. This disorder is more common among children between the ages of 2 to 7, affecting around 10 to 30% of young children. People with this condition have an uncontrollable urge to consume things that can be harmful for them, like – ![]() It can often result in certain health problems. ![]() It is repetitive non-nutritive ingestion that is developmentally inappropriate and occurs for at least a month. An individual may eat harmless items like ice or potentially harmful items like flakes of dried paint or pieces of metal. According to a 2014 study 1, pica is defined as “the act or habit of eating things that are not food”. Pica is a compulsive eating disorder where people eat items that have no nutritional value.
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