- PICA is an eating disorder usually defined as the constant eating of non-nutritive substances for a period of at least 1 month at an age for which this behaviour is deemed unsuitable (e.g., above 18-24 months of age).
- Pica is a general term for the abnormal desires to eat. Pica items are diverse, and therefore can be named accordingly.
For example:
| Term | Desire for |
| Geophagia | Dirt, sand, clay |
| Trichophagia | Hair |
| Acuphagia | Sharp objects |
| Amylophagia | Laundry starch |
| Cautopyreiophagia | Burnt matches |
| Coprophagia | Human feces, animal dung |
| Foliophagia | Leaves, grass, acorns, pinecones |
| Geomelophagia | Raw potatoes |
| Lignophagia | Wood, bark, twigs |
| Lithophagia | Rocks, gravel, pebbles |
| Pagophagia | Ice, freezer frost |
| Plumbophagia | Paint chips (lead) |
| Tobaccophagia | Cigarette butts |
But this is not all!
There are other types of pica behaviours which are not named, like:
| Items | Desire for |
| Art supplies | Crayons, chalk, glue, markers, pencils, pens |
| Ashes | Cigarette |
| Building materials | Caulking, concrete, glass |
| Fibers | Rope, carpet, cloth, pillow/toy stuffing, sponge |
| Home items | Candles, charcoal, coffee grounds, mothballs |
| Insects | Dead, live |
| Metal | Bolts, coins, nails, nuts, rust, screws |
| Paper | Books, disposable diapers, labels, toilet paper |
| Plastic | Container lids, toy parts |
| Rubber | Foam rubber, tubing, telephone cord |
| Sewing supplies | Pins, needles, buttons, thread |
| Toiletries | Soap, deodorant, toilet bowl freshener, toothpaste |
