Bizarre Eating Habits: Who is Affected & Is it Life-threatening?

March 1, 2016

Ruth Kang

Vagmini. "His Stomach Hurts If He Won't Eat Sand." SAND MAN. Lite Ley Mamu, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 02

Mar. 2016.

Some people crave ice cream, others crave sand, or mattress foam. As absurd as it sounds, almost everyone goes through a phase of pica (eating disorder) during their lifetime, especially as a young child. What is pica exactly? Pica is the constant craving and compulsive eating of nonfood substances with no nutritional benefits. While pica disorder is very common, not so many people know about this disorder like other well-known health disorders, such as bulimia. However, for those who know a bit about pica, most of them automatically link this disorder to pregnancy-- which is not always the case. In addition, some individuals believe that pica disorder can be life-threatening, which is not always the case either. In this day and age, it is a difficult and complex process to spot out people with pica disorder, because many individuals have temporary, peculiar cravings once in awhile. On the contrary, it is quite obvious and simple to detect pica disorder within pregnant women and young children. For pregnant women, they usually crave anything from pickles to pure ice cubes for the texture and crunch of it. For children, they tend to crave items such as chalk and rocks out of curiosity, the earthiness, and also to experiment with different kinds of textures and tastes. But, some adults do have pica disorders. Hans Raj, a 45-year-old man, is a considered "odd ball out". Mr.Raj is diagnosed with pica disorder, and is highly addicted to gravel and sand, in which he consumes every day. He explains, "I have been eating bricks and rocks for around 25 years now. I love eating them. I don't think there has been any harmful effects on me.... I started at a young age...in my opinion, minerals in sand give me energy as do bits of masonry." Although he thinks that nothing is wrong with him, the opinions of his doctors located in the state of Uttar Pradesh tend to differ. They claim that he may be diagnosed with pica disorder, which is defined as "an eating disorder, in which people develop appetites for normally non-edible objects." After Raj's friends discovered that Raj had pica disorder, they tried to "dissuade him from eating objects," but nothing could cease him from doing so. Although people in Raj's village, and his doctors find that his eating habits could potentially hurt him, I believe that consuming sand and gravels should not be a huge threat in the aftermath. After all, Mr.Raj is still in healthy condition, and he still has all of his teeth. In fact, according to the article, Hans Raj claims that this peculiar eating of his actually kept him fit, and has never experienced any kind of sickness. However, he mentions that people who eat "normal food" fall sick often. Sure, it would be pretty safe to stay away from sand and gravels. However, everything is okay in moderation. While it sounds bizarre, no serious damage is being done to people who consume rocks and such, which is why I believe that they should be left alone. What do you think? Should people with the pica disorder be restricted from eating non-nutritional foods? Do you think that this behavior is life-threatening?

Syndication, TM. "Man Eats Sand and Gravel for 25 Years as Doctors Diagnose Bizarre Eating Disorder."

Hindi News. Mid-Day Infomedia, 16 Feb. 10. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.