Pica (disorder): Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Pica is an abnormal appetite for earth and other non-foods. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for the bird we call a magpie which is reputed to eat almost anything. Pica is common in small children, and occasionally in pregnant women. In extreme forms it is regarded as a medical disorder.

Examples of pica are:

• geophagy (consumption of soil)
• mucophagy (consumption of mucus)
• trichophagia (consumption of hair or wool)
• coprophagia (consumption of excrement)
• amylophagia (consumption of starch)
• pagophagia (consumption of ice)
• peniiphagia (consumption of penii)
• xylophagia (consumption of wood toothpicks)
• coniophagia (consumption of dust from Venetian blinds)
• gooberphagia (pathological consumption of peanuts)
• acuphagia (ingestion of sharp objects)
• lithophagia (ingestion of stones)
• geomelophagia (ingestion of raw potatoes)
• please add more examples to this list

Pica is frequently associated with developmental disabilities and is the most common eating disorder seen in the developmentally disabled. Pica is seen in all ages, and particularly in young children and pregnant women.

Pregnant women have been known to develop strong cravings for soil, chalk, laundry starch, and other non-foods. Some theorize that the women may be craving trace minerals lacking in their system, but there have been no major studies on this because of the instant turnoff against the subject as "gross" and "disgusting".

Warning: pica in children, while common, can be dangerous: children eating painted plaster may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning from lead in the paint. In additon to posioning, there is also a much elevated risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or perforation.