title: Pets, pica, pathogens and pre-school children.
abstract: The incidence of pica in pre-school children was investigated by studying 192 children attending a general paediatric hospital clinic and 69 attending a general practice surgery. The incidence of pica was twice as common in those who kept pets in both study groups. Half of the pet-keeping children with pica had eaten their pet's food. Imitative behaviour is suggested as a probable cause. Pet-keeping compounds a child's risk of infestation not only by providing close contact with a reservoir of enteropathogens but also by encouraging pica.
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010842:Pica / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012306:Risk; D012923:Social Class