Pica
Is Pica a dietary problem, mental or physiological disease?
From all I have read about it I would say it is a mental thing. To look at substances as food when they are not is a mental think in my book. Whether the child is just acting out or in a later developmental stage that may not be a problem then. I know for the behavior to be Pica they have to keep doing this for more than a month to be rated as having Pica disorder.