Pica: Consideration of a Historical and Current Problem with Racial/Ethnic/Cultural Overtones

Pica is an eating disorder that affects an individual who experiences a craving that is satisfied by ingestion of either unusually large amounts of selected food items (e .g . , baking soda) or repeated ingestion of nonfood items (e .g. , clay, laundry starch). Pica is more than an anomaly of human behavior; it is an eating disorder that carries all the risks that are inherent to impaired nutrition, including death. Pica can be dated to antiquity, yet there is little question that it continues as a current practice. As an eating disorder, pica has implications for persons who are in positions to influence human behavior, those in education and social service as well as those in clinical settings. Pica poses specific challenges for those professionals whose work encompasses the development and enhancement of problem-solving models related to nutritional deficiencies. The literature, collectively, provides a wealth of information on pica; however, these sources are so fragmented that it is difficult to gain a stable perspective of the knowns and unknowns. There is lack of consistency in defining the behavior, charting the implications, and in identifying both causes and practicers . This interdisciplinary review presents a framework that suggests that pica is inadequately defined in our standard references, which is in contradiction to the fact that it is a generalizable condition with a substantial body of literature. It is suggested that since pica has most frequently been documented as a problem of those who are culturally, racially, and/or ethnically different from the maj ority group and from medical care researchers and practitioners, it has received inadequate attention. Understanding pica will require vigorous research and sensitive researchers who consider culture, race, and/or ethnicity as