When I was a kid I used to spend a lot of time chewing on window sills. At least that’s what I’m told by my parents and my older sister. Of course she used to eat potting soil, so she lets me alone about all the led based paint I ingested during my teething years.
I bring this up because of something one of my daughters brought up to me the other day after they came home from an appointment with our granddaughter’s doctor.
“Dad, the doctor said she has Pica.”
Taken aback by the revelation that this sweet kid had some terrible disease, I asked her, “what is Pica?”
She explained to me that it is when a child chews on and tries to eat things that aren’t food. You know, like putting flowers or rocks in their mouths or chewing on book corners and eating the paper. I had a son that tried to eat dog food and another granddaughter who likes to snack on lady bugs when she can catch one.
Feeling that this must be some sort of miscommunication between my daughter and the doctor I did what any 21st century person with a question does; I entered into the Googleverse where I found this statement;
“Pica is the persistent eating of substances with no nutrition, such as dirt or paint.” Now, aside from the ironic fact that this could have been written with me and my dirt eating sister in mind, the fact remains that we have turned into such a victim driven, mental disorder fueled society that the absolutely normal act of a kid picking something up and putting it into its mouth, now must have a clinical diagnosis.
Another quote from the article said, (click to it at http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-pica) “Before making a diagnosis of pica, the doctor will rule out other disorders -- such as mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or obsessive-compulsive disorder -- as the cause of the odd eating behavior. This pattern of behavior must last at least one month for a diagnosis of pica to be made.”
Come on, really? “Medical Experts” are actually going to put it into a young parents mind that if their kid starts chewing on twigs when he’s playing in the yard that he might be retarded?
And do you know how they say you should treat it? With positive reinforcement of what is and isn’t food, and “close supervision of children known to put things in their mouths.”
In other words, do your job as a parent; because that’s where the problem is.
Parents have known for as long as there have been kids, that the little monsters stick everything in their mouths. Most of us accept that as a part of the learning process. It’s the same reason they want to stick their little fingers in a candle flame, a window fan or an electrical outlet. It’s not because they are into self-mutilation, it’s because they don’t know any better and we are supposed to teach them.
Did any of you reading this ever go to school with a paste eater? I knew a couple and I bet you knew at least one. Nobody ever diagnosed one of them with Pica, nor were the straw chewers, the spitball marksmen or the nail biters.
I tried to explain to my daughter that there was nothing wrong with her child other than the fact that she is two years old full of fire. And I believe that with all my heart because she isn’t the first two-year old I have encountered in my life and they are all completely nuts.
Today it seems that the medical profession, bolstered by the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry, is pushing parents of younger and younger children to consider any unusual behavior as some sort of treatable mental disorder.
As the article suggests, “close collaboration with a mental health team skilled in treating pica is ideal for optimal treatment of these complex cases.”
Hmmm, what do you think the optimal treatment might be? Medication maybe?
I say; if your kid eats dirt, teach him not to do it. Tell him “no.” I understand that such harsh language is frowned upon by today’s child psychologists with concerns of emotional scarring of the child to consider, but it will be fine. I promise.
Look, if a child has a serious developmental issue, then of course they need help; nobody is going to argue that point. But if your kid wants to chew a blade of grass, let him chew the grass. Just make sure you keep an eye out for where your dog does his business.
Children, especially two-year olds chew on things, it’s not a disease. It is the same thing you see on Animal Planet or Discovery when they show a young chimpanzee testing things to learn what he can and can’t eat; it’s called curiosity and it’s the way we mammals learn. His Mama isn’t going to let him eat something that will hurt him, human Mamas, and Daddies, are capable of the same attentiveness.
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