Social work in mental health: an evidence-based approach. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2003:775. Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 32 (8): 2010–1. “Is Pica an eating disorder or an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder?”. Hergüner, S., Ozyildirim, I., & Tanidir, C. ![]() DSM-IV-TR: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision. If no other cause for your child’s pica is found, try to notice whether there are triggers for your child’s pica behaviour and discuss with your Family Doctor whether behavioural strategies might be useful.ĭr Kaylene Henderson is passionate about sharing practical, research based advice to help you feel more calm and confident while raising kind, resilient and socially and emotionally healthy children.Ĭlick here to find out more about her acclaimed, research based online course series and here to discover her range of popular video-based advice packs for parents.Īnd here for the corresponding course series for early childhood professionals, Raising Good Kids: Managing Behaviour and Emotions in Early Childhood Care and Education Settings. For those children who seem to seek the sensation of different textures in their mouths, popcorn is sometimes a useful alternative. Consider locking up things like cleaning liquids, bleach, paint etc. Learn about pica and try to prevent your child’s exposure to dangerous items. Depending on the duration and severity of your child’s pica, your Doctor may suggest a referral to a Paediatrician, Child Psychiatrist or Psychologist. Your child might need a blood test to check for mineral deficiencies. He/She might also ask questions about what access your child has to dangerous items and about signs of intellectual impairment and autism given that these conditions sometimes occur together. ![]() Your Doctor will want to consider what is causing the pica for your child and look for any evidence of harm caused. Worrying non-foods include faeces or soil which might expose the child to parasitic infections, lead-based paint, stones or gravel which might damage the child’s teeth and/or cause intestinal blockages etc.Įven though pica in children with normal intelligence usually resolves without treatment by the time they’re teenagers, all kids with pica should be reviewed by their Family Doctor. This will depend on what items the child is ingesting. Some other kids seem simply to like the sensation of different objects and textures in their mouth. There’s also been a suggestion in some studies that pica might be a compulsion for some children, like those seen in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Some children with pica are found to be iron and/or zinc deficient. Researchers haven’t found the answer to this yet and, as is often the case, it’s likely that pica happens in different children for different reasons. It also seems to be much more often seen among children with an intellectual disability or an autistic spectrum disorder. It seems to be most common amongst 2-3 year olds with the incidence reducing as they get older. That said, figures of between 10-30% of young children have been quoted. This therefore excludes some cultural practices such as the eating of clay or soil in various parts of the world.īecause of the inconsistencies in the definition and due to the general under-reporting of these things, it’s difficult to know how prevalent pica is among children. ![]() The word ‘pica’ is defined differently depending on where you look but the DSM-IV (the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) calls for “persistent eating of non-nutritive substances for at least 1 month that’s developmentally inappropriate and not culturally sanctioned and severe enough to warrant clinical attention”. It seems to depend largely on how mobile the child is as to what they can access. These non-foods can include dirt, clothing, paper, toothpaste, hair, glass, paint, string, stones…the list goes on. ![]() Very young children, under the age of 18 months, will put a range of things (other than food) in their mouths but repeatedly eating items which are considered ‘non-nutritive’ (ie not food) after that age is generally considered abnormal. The word ‘pica’ comes from the latin word for ‘magpie’ since these birds are known to eat just about anything.
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