• Question: Is paper-eating a disorder?

    Asked by wizzyg12 to Sam, Claire on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Eating strange things is called pica! Eating paper, or other wood products, is called pica. Eating paper is not a great idea because the chemicals that make it white can be dangerous to eat in large quantities. Eating strange things that aren’t food can come from problems in your family or other stressful situations, or just be a habit that grows out of control. It can also from mental disorder, although usually eating paper isn’t a sign of a mental disorder. Pregnant women also sometimes get urges to eat strange things.

    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      What Sam said!

      Pica is defined as the unnatural craving to eat stuff that is non-nutritious, including ice, chalk, sand etc.

      Usually food cravings are an indication that your body is missing something, and pica is no exception. In this case it’s usually an iron deficiency.

      I had a student once who used to eat my chalk! It made doing examples on the board pretty difficult 🙂 I sent her off to the pharmacy to get a supplement and we managed to do some examples from then on 🙂

      If you find yourself doing this it’s worth asking your doctor for an iron level check, or even just go to the pharmacy and ask for an iron supplement, take it for a while and see if the cravings stop. (Though take it at night cause I found it makes you tired)

Comments