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Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital

Received: 24 June 2014     Accepted: 5 July 2014     Published: 20 July 2014
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Abstract

Objectives: to highlight the epidemiology of pica among children attending paediatrics outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. Background: Pica is a persistent eating of non-nutritive substance, which is inappropriate to the developmental level. Numerous etiologies have been proposed to explain pica. Different forms of pica are associated with a high rate of complications and substantial morbidity and mortality. Methods: The prospective study was undertaken at a pediatric outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. The mothers were interviewed and data were collected. General physical, systemic examination and investigations were done. Anemia was defined as haemoglobin thresholds for age (0.5-4.99 years) is11 g/dl and 11.5 g/dl for age (5.00–11.99 years). Iron depletion was defined as serum ferritin levels of <15 ng/ml. And iron deficiency as serum iron level <50 µg/dl. Hypozincaemia was defined as serum zinc level of<0.6 mg/L. Results: From two thousands and four hundreds children visited pediatrics clinic, of them one hundred and seventy four patients of them were suffering from pica (prevalence of pica was 7.2%). Clay was the material used by 43.1% children (major form of pica in this study) followed by Dust (25.9 %) followed by paper and cigarette (both 4 %). The hemoglobin and serum iron levels, serum ferritin and serum zinc were below the reference range. Conclusion: Prevalence of pica is higher in males, four years or less age, rural residents, bottle feeders, poor nourished children, children came from low socioeconomic families, illiterate housewife mothers. Children with pica had low level of zinc, hemoglobin, iron and ferritin, which confirmed that there is a relationship between pica and iron deficiency anemia and / or hypozincaemia. The children who practice pica are prone to worm infestation.

Published in American Journal of BioScience (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15
Page(s) 147-152
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anemia, Clay, Hypozincaemia, Iron, Pica, Prevalence

References
[1] Emily R and David R. Pica. In Robert M. Kliegman, Bonita F. Stanton, Joseph W. St.; et al. Nelson Textbook of pediaterics, 19th Edition. Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier Inc 2011;21(2): 70-72.
[2] Khan NZ, Ferdous S, Islam R ; et al . Behaviour problems in young children in rural Bangladesh. J Trop Pediatr 2009; 55(3): 177–182.
[3] Alexader W. and Akos . Geophagia: the history of earth-eating. J R Soc Med 2002; 95:143-146.
[4] Edward A. R., John H. P., and Anne V. Pica Common but Commonly Missed. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2000; 13(5): 353-358.
[5] Ravinder K. G and Ritu G. Clinical Profile of Pica in Childhood. JK Science 2005; 7:61-63.
[6] Al-Sawaf F B . Pica in children. Iraqi J Med Sci 2004; 3(2): 179-181.
[7] Ibrahim A . Pica in children with tetralogy of Fallot : Report of two cases. Muller J Med Sci Res 2013; 4:122-123.
[8] Moturi N. and Shivoga W A. Geophagia as a risk factor for diarrhea. J Infect Developing Countries 2009; 3(2): 94-98.
[9] Bisi-Johnson M A, Obi C L and Ekosse G E . Microbiological and health related perspectives of geophagia: An overview. African Journal of Biotechnology 2010; 9(19): 5784-5791.
[10] Sunit S , Ravishanker R , Pratibha S ; et al . Low Plasma Zinc and Iron in Pica. Indian Journal of Pediatrics 2003 ; 70:139-142.
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  • APA Style

    Fathia Mohamed El nemer, Doaa Mahmoud Alian, Mona Salah Eldin, Housam Eldin Moustafa Khalil. (2014). Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital. American Journal of BioScience, 2(4), 147-152. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15

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    ACS Style

    Fathia Mohamed El nemer; Doaa Mahmoud Alian; Mona Salah Eldin; Housam Eldin Moustafa Khalil. Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital. Am. J. BioScience 2014, 2(4), 147-152. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15

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    AMA Style

    Fathia Mohamed El nemer, Doaa Mahmoud Alian, Mona Salah Eldin, Housam Eldin Moustafa Khalil. Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital. Am J BioScience. 2014;2(4):147-152. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15,
      author = {Fathia Mohamed El nemer and Doaa Mahmoud Alian and Mona Salah Eldin and Housam Eldin Moustafa Khalil},
      title = {Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital},
      journal = {American Journal of BioScience},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {147-152},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbio.20140204.15},
      abstract = {Objectives: to highlight the epidemiology of pica among children attending paediatrics outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. Background: Pica is a persistent eating of non-nutritive substance, which is inappropriate to the developmental level. Numerous etiologies have been proposed to explain pica. Different forms of pica are associated with a high rate of complications and substantial morbidity and mortality. Methods: The prospective study was undertaken at a pediatric outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. The mothers were interviewed and data were collected. General physical, systemic examination and investigations were done. Anemia was defined as haemoglobin thresholds for age (0.5-4.99 years) is11 g/dl and 11.5 g/dl for age (5.00–11.99 years). Iron depletion was defined as serum ferritin levels of <15 ng/ml. And iron deficiency as serum iron level <50 µg/dl. Hypozincaemia was defined as serum zinc level of<0.6 mg/L. Results: From two thousands and four hundreds children visited pediatrics clinic, of them one hundred and seventy four patients of them were suffering from pica (prevalence of pica was 7.2%). Clay was the material used by 43.1% children (major form of pica in this study) followed by Dust (25.9 %) followed by paper and cigarette (both 4 %). The hemoglobin and serum iron levels, serum ferritin and serum zinc were below the reference range. Conclusion: Prevalence of pica is higher in males, four years or less age, rural residents, bottle feeders, poor nourished children, children came from low socioeconomic families, illiterate housewife mothers. Children with pica had low level of zinc, hemoglobin, iron and ferritin, which confirmed that there is a relationship between pica and iron deficiency anemia and / or hypozincaemia. The children who practice pica are prone to worm infestation.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence of Pica among Children Attending Pediatrics Clinic at El-Menoufiya University Hospital
    AU  - Fathia Mohamed El nemer
    AU  - Doaa Mahmoud Alian
    AU  - Mona Salah Eldin
    AU  - Housam Eldin Moustafa Khalil
    Y1  - 2014/07/20
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15
    T2  - American Journal of BioScience
    JF  - American Journal of BioScience
    JO  - American Journal of BioScience
    SP  - 147
    EP  - 152
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0167
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20140204.15
    AB  - Objectives: to highlight the epidemiology of pica among children attending paediatrics outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. Background: Pica is a persistent eating of non-nutritive substance, which is inappropriate to the developmental level. Numerous etiologies have been proposed to explain pica. Different forms of pica are associated with a high rate of complications and substantial morbidity and mortality. Methods: The prospective study was undertaken at a pediatric outpatient clinic of Menoufiya university hospital. The mothers were interviewed and data were collected. General physical, systemic examination and investigations were done. Anemia was defined as haemoglobin thresholds for age (0.5-4.99 years) is11 g/dl and 11.5 g/dl for age (5.00–11.99 years). Iron depletion was defined as serum ferritin levels of <15 ng/ml. And iron deficiency as serum iron level <50 µg/dl. Hypozincaemia was defined as serum zinc level of<0.6 mg/L. Results: From two thousands and four hundreds children visited pediatrics clinic, of them one hundred and seventy four patients of them were suffering from pica (prevalence of pica was 7.2%). Clay was the material used by 43.1% children (major form of pica in this study) followed by Dust (25.9 %) followed by paper and cigarette (both 4 %). The hemoglobin and serum iron levels, serum ferritin and serum zinc were below the reference range. Conclusion: Prevalence of pica is higher in males, four years or less age, rural residents, bottle feeders, poor nourished children, children came from low socioeconomic families, illiterate housewife mothers. Children with pica had low level of zinc, hemoglobin, iron and ferritin, which confirmed that there is a relationship between pica and iron deficiency anemia and / or hypozincaemia. The children who practice pica are prone to worm infestation.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of medicine, Menoufiya University, Menoufiya, Governorate, Shebin El Koum city, Egypt

  • Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of medicine, Menoufiya University, Menoufiya, Governorate, Shebin El Koum city, Egypt

  • Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of medicine, Menoufiya University, Menoufiya, Governorate, Shebin El Koum city, Egypt

  • Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of medicine, Menoufiya University, Menoufiya, Governorate, Shebin El Koum city, Egypt

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