The picture was of a box of colorful German chalk but to some people in Atlanta with a strange eating disorder it looks like Smorgasbord!

Eminent surgeon and media personality, Dr Oz, did a very compelling segment called “World’s Weirdest Eating Disorder” which discussed one of the most bizarre eating disorders called Pica. 

The truth of the matter is that some people have an insatiable hunger for inedibles such as writing chalk, baby powder, pencil graphite, paint chips, paper products, wood, drywall, cigarette ashes, blankets, rock chips and even sofa filling!

The Pica inflicted have these strange cravings that gnaw away at them all day long.  People reportedly eat everything from house-hold cleaners to toilet paper. 

I’m sure you’re asking what all this does to their systems, to ingest non-nutritive substances with an insatiable passion!   Well, it’s been known to cause serious bodily harm which can even be fatal – no surprises there... 

Pica can cause all sorts of problems including constipation for days or even weeks, intestinal obstructions and malnutrition.

The “condition” is more common than you think.  A whopping 25-30% of children have Pica, but apparently by the age of 2-3 they outgrow it. 

More astonishingly, 1 in 5 pregnant women end up having Pica and crave things including mud or ice chips – a pregnant women I worked with ate ice chips all day long!

Pica can be successfully treated and cured if only the inflicted will acknowledge that they have a serious problem!