Along the spectrum of Disordered Eating is Pica, a lesser-known phenomenon.
Pica is defined as a compulsive craving for eating, chewing or licking non-food items or food containing no nutrition. It is fairly common in pregnant women, whose symptoms usually disappear after the birth of the child or those experiencing high levels of stress, especially when dieting and not consuming enough nutrition. The name Pica comes from the Latin word for "magpie," which is a bird that's known for eating anything and everything.
Sometimes the behaviour is linked to certain mineral deficiencies, such as iron or zinc, which the body craves from other sources. The disorder is also linked to people who have psychiatric disturbances such as hysteria, people with developmental disabilities or similar impairments, people whose family or ethnic customs include eating certain non-food substances, families with a history of this behaviour, people who live in atmospheres of little support and love or who come from a poor family, and people who diet, become hungry and then try to disregard their appetite by eating low-calorie and non-food substances.
Children can develop Pica, statistically 10-20% before adulthood, but almost all of them outgrow it. They sometimes imitate household pets like cats and dogs, who chew on all sorts of domestic objects. It can be fairly harmless unless the craved substances are toxic or contaminated, which can cause intestinal infections and parasites, malnutrition, poisoning, abdominal pains and dental injury. It is, therefore, necessary to seek a medical evaluation to be diagnosed and treated promptly.
Some substances that people with Pica commonly crave are:
- chalk
- dirt or clay
- plaster
- paint chips
- baking soda
- corn or laundry starch
- glue
- rust
- ice
- coffee grounds
- cigarette ashes or burnt match heads
