Thanks to visit codestin.com
Credit goes to www.scribd.com

Scribd
Upload
281 views3 pages

Definition:: Between 16

Pica is an eating disorder characterized by consuming non-nutritive substances such as hair, dirt, paint or chalk. It is most common in children ages 1-6 and pregnant women. Throughout history, pica was viewed as both a medical condition and a symptom of other disorders. It was added to the DSM-5 as the compulsive eating of non-food items for at least one month. Causes of pica include iron deficiency, cultural norms, mental disorders, deprivation, and developmental delays. Symptoms include regularly eating substances like ice, hair, chalk or soap. There are different types of pica defined by the substances craved, such as geophagia involving soil, clay or chalk

Uploaded by

NIDA MUSTAFA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
281 views3 pages

Definition:: Between 16

Pica is an eating disorder characterized by consuming non-nutritive substances such as hair, dirt, paint or chalk. It is most common in children ages 1-6 and pregnant women. Throughout history, pica was viewed as both a medical condition and a symptom of other disorders. It was added to the DSM-5 as the compulsive eating of non-food items for at least one month. Causes of pica include iron deficiency, cultural norms, mental disorders, deprivation, and developmental delays. Symptoms include regularly eating substances like ice, hair, chalk or soap. There are different types of pica defined by the substances craved, such as geophagia involving soil, clay or chalk

Uploaded by

NIDA MUSTAFA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

PICA

Definition:
Pica is an eating disorder in which a person eats items that are not considered as food
items. Those non-food items does not contain any nutritional value such as hair, dirt, cement,
chalk, paint these are the most common items eaten. In this disorder a person crave such non-
food items. The less common items are hair, glue, cigarette ashes etc. This disorder is most
common in children from age 1-6. This disorder is less common found in teenagers as well as
adults of any genders. It is also mostly seen in pregnant woman. Pica can be associated with
intellectual disability, trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and excoriation (skin picking
disorder).

History:
Between 16th and 18th century the craving for substances like chalk, soil or paper were
discussed as a medical condition affecting young girls and pregnant women. The doctors
developed theories about the disease and its genesis. With the change of time the concept
according to this disorder changed. Pica was regarded as the symptom of other eating disorder
rather than a separate entity. Than later on (DSM-5) defined pica as eating non-nutritive non-
food items over a period of at least a month. This term was derived from pica-pica, the Latin
word for magpie bird who eats every other non-food item out of curiosity. Same as this many
people eat non-food items because of curiosity but the people who have cravings for non-food
items can have this disorder.

Causes:
There can be different causes of pica. The most common causes for pica are as follows:
 Pregnancy
 Cultural norms that view certain non-food substances as having healing properties.
 Iron deficiency
 Dieting
 People with mental disorders such as schizophrenia may develop pica as a coping
mechanism.
 Some people enjoy or craves the tastes of some non-food items
 Emotional deprivation
 Poverty
 Lack of parental supervision
 Developmental delay
 If the person was used to eat a specific non-food item in his childhood it may become a
habit and cause pica
 Cravings of that specific non-food items which the person cannot resist

Symptoms:
If someone has pica that person may regularly eat non-food items such as:
 Ice
 Hair
 Chalk
 Soap
 Soil
 Sand
 Paint
 Cement
 Ashes of smoked cigarette
 Glue
 Clay
 Buttons
 Nails
They may also eat many other non-food items.
Types:
Like many other eating disorders pica also have its types and they are given as follows:
 Acuphagia (In this type the individual craves for sharp non-food items such as wood,
coal).
 Cautopyreiophagia (In this type the individual craves for burnt matches or cigarette
ashes)
 Coniophagia (The individual wants to eat dust or sand ETC).
 Geophagia (In this type the individual craves for soil, clay chalk).

The types of pica vary from every other individual. There are many more types of pica but the
most common are given above.

You might also like