Does your child have pica ?

Pica is a habit disorder involving the compulsive, irrational ingestion of nutrient or non-nutrient sub- stances over a sustained period of time. Geophagy is the most common pica in the child. Other substances eaten include clay, earth, soil, paper, ice cubes, raw rice... . Pica is often associated with iron and zinc deficiency. It remains an intriguing, little understood occurrence. A number of examples of pica practice are reported from Africa, Middle East area and the south of United States. In these countries, children and pregnant women are fre- quently concerned (1). In developed countries, pica is mainly reported in mental retardation or in cases of abnormal mother child relationship (2). We report here the case of pica revealed by iron-defi- ciency anaemia in a child and review the literature regarding this compulsive dietary aberration.