The story of a three-year-old boy suffering from pica… He often eats paint, chalk, hair, string, fabric, etc.
Posted on 03.19.2024 at 11.28am Posted on 03.19.2024 at 11.28am Modified on 03.19.2024 at 11.29am Views 247
Pica is a condition in which a person continually eats non-nutritive substances such as dirt, garbage, paper, or hair instead of food. The wallpaper and sofa that 3-year-old Stacey (far left), who has pica, tore up and ate at home. [사진=’뉴욕포스트’ 보도내용 캡처]Stacey Ahern (25), who is raising two children in Wales, England, has to watch her three-year-old daughter all day to make sure she doesn’t eat dangerous items in the house. From toys to candle wax to plants and even the couch, your child will eat literally everything in the house.
The American newspaper “New York Post” presented the story of Winter, who suffers from pica. Pica, also known as ichthyosis, is a condition in which a person continually eats non-nutritive substances such as dirt, garbage, paper, and hair instead of food.
Winter grew up as a normal baby, gradually talking and walking until she was 13 months old. She put things in her mouth, but I didn’t think it was a problem, just because she was a child. Then the baby suddenly stopped talking and her abnormal eating habits began to worsen. Winter was later diagnosed with pica, an eating disorder, and after further testing she was even diagnosed with autism.
The child began tearing wallpaper and eating unexpected objects such as sofa foam, toy yarn, plants and candle wax. The scariest thing was seeing him break a frame and try to eat a piece of glass.
“Picia may be more common in children with autism,” Ahern said, adding that children “find ways to eat things they shouldn’t, no matter what.” Ahern, who thought Winter wanted a variety of textures, provided a variety of toys to stimulate the child’s senses and even prepared a chewable necklace specially designed for pica patients.
“The doctor said there wasn’t much we could do,” Ahern said, adding that he hoped the condition would improve as the child grew.
pica, eating inedible objects
Pica often appears in young children and is not commonly seen in adults. It usually appears between 1 and 2 years of age and resolves on its own during early childhood. Items typically consumed vary depending on age. Young children often eat paint, chalk, hair, string and rags, while older children often eat animal waste, sand, insects, leaves and pebbles.
Features related to pica include mental retardation, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but no specific biological abnormalities are found. Poverty, ignorance, child abuse, parental psychopathological problems, developmental delay, lack of stimulation and family chaos increase the risk of developing pica.
As part of behavioral therapy, aversion therapy using mild electrical stimulation, unpleasant sounds or smells, positive/negative reinforcement techniques, behavioral composition methods, and overcorrection methods are applied. If complications such as lead poisoning occur, medical treatment is essential, and pica may disappear if iron or zinc deficiency is treated. If the cause is psychosocial stress, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the psychosocial environmental factors causing the stress and apply family counseling, behavioral therapy and environmental therapy. A study published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis in 2000 even suggested that in some cases a simple multivitamin supplement can be an effective treatment.
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#tear #wallpaper #couch #year #old.. #eating #strange
