A study to access the hemoglobin level and sociodemographic profile of underfive children having Pica

Abstract

Introduction: Pica is a disorder that occurs when children persistently eat one or more non-food substances over the course of at least one month. Pica may result in serious medical problems, such as intestinal blockage, poisoning, parasitic infection, and sometimes death. The typical non-food substances that children with pica ingest tend to vary with age.

Method: This prospective study was undertaken at a pediatric outdoor department Career Institute of Medical Sciences Lucknow since Jan 2019 to Mar 2019. All the under five years children visiting pediatric clinic with direct or indirect history of pica were enrolled for the study. The mothers were interviewed in depth regarding their sociodemographic profile and Hemoglobin level of all the children done.

Results: In our study most of the children belongs to the age group 12-24 months 66(36.67%). Most of the parents were educated upto secondary education only and belong to joint families.Children belongs to rural area 111(61.6%) were more in number and Only 87(48.33%) of the children were exclusive breast fed. In our study only 20.56% children have normal hemoglobin level while 79.44% children have hemoglobin level below 12.0gm/dl and classified as anemic children, out of which 35.56% children have mild anemia, 25.00% children have moderate anemia and 18.89% children had severe anemia.

Conclusion: Pica is mostly related with micronutrient deficiencies. Because of lower breastfeeding rate and delayed starting of complementary feeding the children are prone for micronutrient deficiencies leading to pica behavior in children. Knowledge of pica is the key for prevention.