A MOTHER from Carlisle has spoken about the complexities of living with an unusual condition that sees people eat inanimate objects which are not considered food - including zips, sponges and dry wall.

Lynne Hill said her 8-year-old son Hadley has 'Pica'. According to National Eating Disorders (NEDA), Pica is a 'rare eating disorder where people develop cravings for and swallow inedible items.'

The little boy, who was recently diagnosed, started displaying signs when he was just two years old, with his mother noticing some strange behaviour from her little one.

Mrs Hill said: "It got a lot worse when I took his dummy away, then I started to notice he would literally eat anything; he’d eat playdough, to blankets, to zips on clothes. That was always ‘normal’ for him."

She continued: "He’s a food monster also. He will eat normal food, but he has to feel the texture of everything before he eats it."

Pica is seen more in childen than adults, and is more common than many realise. According to one study, 'up to a third of children between the ages of one and six may exhibit some type of pica eating disorder'.

There are many different reasons why children develop the unique disorder, such as neurological reasons, biological, sensory, and sometimes cultural.

Pica can also cause problems when it comes to education. Mrs Hill said: "Yes, school is becoming a challenge. He chews and eats his pencils, pens, rubbers, rulers and his zip off his coat."

Lynne does everything she can to keep her son safe and takes precautions, saying: "He doesn’t know why he does it and says he can’t help it. So rather than ‘bully him’ into stopping we just go with it and have obviously sought the help to calm it if that’s possible.

"Currently we are just seeking safer things for him to chew and offering more chewable foods rather than non-edibles. We didn’t even know what Pica was until we saw the paediatrician."

She would love to help her son in any way possible, but even doctors aren’t sure how to manage the condition.

"There’s nothing we can do at present," she said. "Hopefully the next appointment won’t be too long but at the moment we’re at the ‘deal with it’ stage."