User:Mr. Ibrahem/Pica (disorder)

Pica is a disorder characterized by the appetite for and eating of substances that are not considered food. Generally the craving are for a few specific items such as soil, raw potatoes, ice, hair, or paint. Often few signs are present though abdominal pain may occasionally occur. Pica may lead to lead poisoning, gastrointestinal obstruction, low red blood cells, or parasitic infections.

Pica is associated with pregnancy, iron deficiency, other mental disorders, poverty, malnutrition, and emotional trauma. A formal diagnosis requires behaviors to persist for at least a month and be inappropriate for a persons age and culture. To make the diagnosis the person most also be at least two years old.

In children who are otherwise normal, pica while generally resolve with education around what is appropriate to eat. Counselling, including behavioral therapy, may also be useful. If iron deficiency is present this should be treated.

Pica effects up to 30% of children and pregnant women. In children it occurs most frequently in those between 18 months and 6 years of age. Described of pica date back more than 2,000 years to Hippocrates. The term is named for the common magpie (Pica pica) which eats unusual objects.