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health advisory Hospital Mental Health 2007-11-15 19:02:16

She is 6 years old and is OK other than this.

Answer:

tell her not to

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take her to her doctor.

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sounds like an iron defeciancy to me, there is a word for when this happens, can't remember it, but supplement the child with iron and it should stop. but when on iron constipation can become a problem, so watch the bowel movements as well

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Mt guess is she is getting alot of attention when she does this. I would venture to bet if the attention stopped, she may get sick and tired of doing this. Reinforce positive actions with positive comments, sometimes ignoring the negative actions all together will stop the problem. Good luck and God bless.

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research (google) " PICA " --- see if this condition fits your childs behavior and scenario.

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ask her why, maybe it is for the attention, could be a compulsion, she is too old to pass it off like you would a small toddler.... she may have a deficiet in her body that craves it, maybe a CBC blood draw could tell..

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The condition is called Pica,, and its not that uncommon in kids,, there have been cases of people who eat nothing else but dirt,, eg,, a women in Russia will serve her family normal food,, and sit down to a plate of dirt, true story(sorry can't give link) have the kids parents spoken to a doctor,,, in the meantime google Pica,, might give you some more insights

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It's called pica (sp?). It's caused by a deficiency. Kids eat paint, paper, dirt, and unusual things.

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Ok, my nephew did this for awhile. We left him be, and he stopped. I think his parents changed his diet, to get more minerals in there, or somethin, but if she is fine other than this, I would suggest that the problem is not mental or psycological. It is physical, and you might suggest they check her iron level, and minerals, vitamins, to see if she is getting enough, maybe a child's supplement.

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See a doctor. if she's not doing it for attention then there's a deficiency.

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It's normal for children to do those things. It is also a sign that they are missing vitamins, and minerals in their food in-take. Try a vitamin and mineral supplement, along with changing around the food choices by adding more variety. The rule of thumb on food variety is "eat a rainbow (as in colors) everyday, and things will turn out ok."

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Get her to a doctor. This is called 'pica' and may be from a nutritional deficiency, typically iron deficiency. It could also be from other things that need attention, so please encourage your friend to take this seriously.

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offer him an appetizer of mud ala carte

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Put very little hot sauce on a rock or somethings they pick up.